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COFffilGHT DEPOSIT. 



FOURSCORE and seven years ago our 
fathers brought forth on this continent 
a new nation, conceived in liberty, and 
dedicated to the proposition that all men are 
created equal .... It is for us, the living, 
.... to be dedicated here to the unfinished 
work which they who fought here have thus 
far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to 
be here dedicated to the great task remain- 
ing before us — that from these honored dead 
we take increased devotion to that cause for 
which they gave the last full measure of 
devotion; that we here highly resolve that 
these dead shall not have died in vain; that 
this nation, under God, shall have a new 
birth of freedom; and that government of the 
people, by the people, for the people, shall not 
perish from the earth. 

— ^Lincoln's Gettysburg Address, delivered 
on the battlefield of Gettysburg, Pa., 
November iq, 1863. 



COMMUNITY CIVICS 
FOR CITY SCHOOLS 



BY 

ARTHUR w} DUNN 



AUTHOR OF THE COMMUNITY AND THE CITIZEN 
AND "community CIVICS AND RURAL LIFE*' 



D. C. HEATH & CO., PUBLISHERS 

BOSTON NEW YORK CHICAGO 






Copyright, 1921, 
By D. C. Heath & Co. 

2»i 



OCT 18 1921 



g)C!.A627291 



INTRODUCTORY NOTE 

Let youth help shape the world while the vision splendid is still 
before its eyes. — Jerome K. Jerome. 

A year ago the author pubHshed his Community Civics and Rural Life, 
in the Introduction to which it was stated that: 

"Training for citizenship in a democracy is a fundamentally identical 
process in all communities, whether urban or rural. But if it really functions 
in the life of the citizen, this process must consist largely in deriving educa- 
tional values from the actual civic situations in which he normally finds him- 
self. Moreover, instruction that relates to matters that lie beyond immediate 
experience must nevertheless be interpreted in terms of that experience if it 
is really to have meaning. At least half of the young citizens of America live 
in an environment that is essentially rural. Hence their need for civics in- 
struction that takes its point of departure in, and refers back to, a body of 
experience that differs in many ways from that of the urban citizen." 

The present book is fundamentally the same book as Community Civics 
and Rural Life; but, being prepared for the use of pupils whose experience is 
urban, it presents, in accordance with the principle stated in the foregoing 
paragraph, certain essential differences. 

The controlling ideas around which all the subject matter of both books is 
organized are: 

1. The common purposes in our community life; 

2. Our interdependence in attaining these common purposes; 

3. The consequent necessity for cooperation; and, 

4. Government as an agency by which to secure cooperation in attaining 
common ends. 

Team work through government for the achievement of common purposes may 
be said to be the motif that runs prominently through the entire text. 

A few of the chapters in the present book stand practically as written for 
the rural book, with only slight revision: as, for example, the opening chapter, 
the chapters on "Our National Community" and "A World Community" 
(VII and VIII), and the concluding chapters on governmental organization 
(except for the addition of a chapter on "Our City Government"). Atten- 
tion may be called, however, to important changes that distinguish the 
present book: 

iii 



iv INTRODUCTORY NOTE 

1. Throughout the book, where more or less abstract ideas are concretely 
illustrated, as in the case of "interdependence" (Chapter II) and ''coopera- 
tion" (Chapter III), the major part of the illustrative material taken from 
rural life has been supplanted by similar material more familiar to the city 
boy or girl. 

2. All of the chapters dealing expressly with the problems of community 
life (comprising the main body of the book), such as the home (Chapter IX), 
education (Chapter X), health (Chapter XI), the protection of property 
(Chapter XIII), and others, have been largely or entirely rewritten; for these 
problems present to the city community aspects entirely different from those 
presented to the rural community, 

3. New chapters have been added: one on "Team Work in Industry," 
one on "How Government Serves Our Economic Interests," and one on 
"Our City Government." A chapter on "Property Rights" has been sep- 
arated from the original chapter on "The Protection of Property." • 

4. Added emphasis has been given to the economic and industrial rela- 
tions of community life; or, more accurately speaking, to the civic relations 
of industry. Chapters XVI-XXI, embracing 119 pages, deal directly with 
this phase of the subject, while Chapters XIII, XV, XXII, and XXIII are 
related, to it. 

5. The sequence of chapters followed in the rural book has been changed 
in certain particulars in the present book. The sequence in which topics are 
taken up for study by a class should be determined by various circumstances, 
and should not be rigidly fixed by the text book. The arrangement of the 
present book was decided upon, however, in order that the economic chapters 
might fall together in the second half of the course. Chapter XVI ("Earn- 
ing a Living") makes an excellent beginning for the second half, though the 
course may be divided at an earlier point when desired (say with Chapter 
XIII or XIV). 

It may be said, in this connection, that it is the judgment of the author 
that, if the course is to be included within a single year, that year should be 
the ninth — the first year of high school or the last year of junior high school. 
If the course is to cover two years, in accordance with present tendencies, its 
arrangement adapts it either to the seventh and eighth grades, or to the 
eighth and ninth. 

6. A great majority of the photographic illustrations in the present book 
differ from those in the rural book. 

The offering of two texts, one for rural pupils and one for those of cities, 
by no means implies the thought that rural conditions and problems should be 
ignored in the civic education of urban citizens, or vice versa. On the contrary, 
a crying need of the present is a keen appreciation on the part of all citizeijs. 



INTRODUCTORY NOTE V 

urban and rural, of the close interdependence of city and country in a unified 
national life. Great stress has been placed on this idea at many points in 
both books. (See, for example, Chapter VI, "What Is Our Community?".) 
The opportunity to emphasize the idea will be greatly increased, however, if 
a class using one of the books regularly as a text may have available for 
reference one or more copies of the other. By this means a richer fund of 
illustrative material will be made available and a greater breadth of view 
will be secured, than would be possible in a single volume of reasonable size. 

The author may take this occasion to repeat what he has said many times 
before, that the term "community civics," certainly as applied to his own 
books, derives its appropriateness, not from any narrow application to "local 
study," but from the interpretation of citizenship and of government in their 
relation to national and world-wide, as well as local, community relations and 
interests. If there is one thing more than another emphasized in the present 
book (and in Community Civics and Rural Life), it is our national community 
of interests, our national interdependence, and our national need for team 
work. Our whole scheme of government — local, state, and national — is 
interpreted from this point of view. 

The underlying, vitalizing features of "community civics" may be summed 
up as follows: 

1. The demonstration to the young citizen, by reference to his own observation 
and experience, of the meaning of his community life {local and national), and 
of government in relation to that life; 

2. The cultivation of certain habits, ideals, and attitudes essential to effective 
participation in that life through government and otherwise. 

The aim of the present text is to fix in the pupil's consciousness a few 
essential ideas, which will help to determine his ideals and attitudes, by a 
judicious use of facts, which will thereby be more readily understood and 
remembered. Whether based on this textbook or some other, however, com- 
munity civics cannot be successfully taught if it is made primarily a text- 
book study. The word "demonstration" has been used above advisedly. The 
text sets up ideas, interprets and exemplifies them; but "demonstration" can 
be made only as pupils draw upon their own observation and experience. The 
author has done his best constantly to direct attention to the actualities of 
the pupils' experience by interspersing numerous suggestive topics throughout 
the text. These topics are only suggestive, and should not be followed too 
literally. But to omit such studies as the topics suggest is to negative the 
value of community civics. 

The successful teacher will seek to extend the pupil's experience by enlarg- 
ing his opportunity to participate in group activities both within the school 
and in the community outside, and will make the fullest possible use of such 



vi INTRODUCTORY NOTE 

activities both as a means of "demonstrating" the operation of the funda- 
mental principles of civic life, and as a means of cultivating "habits, ide?.ls, 
and attitudes." "Training for citizenship through service" is an essential 
factor in community civics. 

It may be added, finally, that the civics instruction m the grammar 
grades, or in the junior high school, will be vastly more effective if it is pre- 
ceded in the six elementary grades by some such course as that outlined in 
Citizenship In School and Out (Dunn and Harris, published by D. C. Heath 
& Company), or in Lessons in Civics for the Six Elementary Grades of City 
Schools, by Hannah Margaret Harris (Bulletin, 1920, No. 18, U.S. Bureau 
of Education). 

Readings 

A list of "Readings" is appended to each chapter. It is not to be expected 
that pupils in the grades for which the text is intended will do a great deal of 
supplementary reading; but an abundance of illustrative material is desirable 
and much more easily available than is often appreciated. The length of the 
list of " Readings, " in some chapters, is due to the references to publications of 
the national government, many of which can be obtained free of cost from 
the departments issuing them, and all of which can be obtained at nominal 
cost from the Superintendent of Documents, Government Printing Office, 
Washington, D.C. Let the pupils use their government as freely as possible. 

In ordering from the Superintendent of Documents the money must be sent in 
advance (stamps are not accepted). Any number of copies of a given publica- 
tion can be obtained through this channel if the price accompanies the order. 
Some of the federal departments have a rule that only one copy of a publica- 
tion will be sent free to one person. Often publications can be obtained free 
by application to one's congressman. It is good civic training to allow classes 
to get in direct touch with their government through these various channels. 
It is also good civic training to teach pupils to have regard for the time of 
public officers and for the expenditure of public funds. Therefore, it is desir- 
able in most cases to have a single letter sent by the class or the school with a 
request for a single copy of a given publication to go into the reference library. 
Lists of publications may be obtained from, the several departments of gov- 
ernment issuing them, or from the Superintendent of Documents. In apply- 
ing to the latter, indicate the department, and if possible the bureau of the 
department, whose publications are desired. 

Two most useful publications are The Federal Executive Departments as 
Sources of Information (Bulletin, 1919, No. 74, U.S. Bureau of Education, 
price 25 cents), and Guide to United States Government Publications (Educa- 
tion Bulletin, 1918, No. 2, price 20 cents). The government publication most 



INTRODUCTORY NOTE vii 

frequently referred to in the following Readings is Lessons in Community 
and National Life, published in three pamphlets (Series A, B, and C) by the 
United States Bureau of Education, price 15 cents for each pamphlet. These 
may be ordered directly from the Bureau or from the Superintendent of 
Documents, price accompanying the order. 

Newspapers should become a "habit" with civics classes. Also magazines 
and periodicals. Such weeklies as The Literary Digest, The Outlook, and The 
Independent should be in constant demand. Among the most useful monthly 
magazines for this course is The American City (154 Nassau Street, New York 
City). For current progress in city government nothing is better than The 
National Municipal Review (261 Broadway, New York City). The use of the 
public library should also become a habit with the civics class. 

Some good collection of patriotic literature is invaluable as a means of 
stressing civic ideals, such as Long's American Patriotic Prose (D. C. Heath 
& Company) and Foerster and Pierson's American Ideals (Houghton Mifiiin 
Company), to both of which reference is made in the Readings. 

Among the comparatively few books frequently referred to is Tufts' The 
Real Business of Living (Henry Holt & Company), with which, it seems to 
the author, every young American citizen should become familiar. 

Arthur William Dunn 
July, 1921 



CONTENTS 



CHAPTER 



PAGE 



I. Our Common Purposes in Community Life . i 
11. How WE Depend upon One Another in Com- 
munity Life 12 

HI. The Need for Cooperation in Community 

Life 26 

IV. Why we have Government ........ 40 

V. What is Citizenship? 54 

VI. What is our Community? 62 

VII. Our National Community 75 

VIII. A World Community 93 

IX. The Community and the Home 107 

X. Education and the Community 131 

' XL The Community's Health 160 

XII. The Social, Aesthetic, and Religious Life 

of the Community 196 

XIII. The Protection of Property 225 

XIV. Communication , . . . 243 

XV. Highways and Transportation 257 

XVI. Earning a Living 282 

XVII. Thrift 301 

XVIII. Team Work in Industry ..323 

XIX. How Government Serves our Economic 

Interests , . . . 345 

XX. Our Land and its Resources 368 

XXL Property Rights 39^ 

XXII. Dependent, Defective, and Delinquent 

Members of the Community ...... 401 

XXIII. Team Work in Taxation 421 



X CONTENTS 

CHAPTER PAGE 

XXIV. How WE Govern Ourselves 435 

XXV. Township and County Governments . . . 450 

XXVI. Our City Government 473- 

XXVII. Our State Governments 493 

XXVIII. Our National Government 517 

Appendix — ^The Constitution of the United States ... 551 

Index 567 



COMMUNITY CIVICS 

FOR CITY SCHOOLS 



CHAPTER I 

OUR COMMON PURPOSES IN COMMUNITY LIFE 

The most important element of success in community life, 
as in a ball game, a family, or a school, is team work; and team 
work depends, first of all, upon a common purpose, ^ , 

Our nation gave an example of team work during the and common 
recent war such as is seldom seen ; and this was be- p^^p^^®^ 
cause every member of the nation was keenly intent on winning. 
We may see the same thing in our school when a holiday cele- 
bration is being planned, when an athletic tournament is ap- 
proaching, or when some other school activity is under way in 
which all are deeply interested. We may see it in our town or 
neighborhood when enthusiasm runs high over some public 
enterprise. 

All communities have common purposes, although they are 
not always as clearly defined as when our nation was at war, 
or as in the other cases mentioned in the preceding Recognition 
paragraph. Sometimes the people of a community, of common 
or a large portion of them, seem to be wholly un- P^^^^^^ 
conscious that a common purpose exists. This may be true 
even in a family or in a school. And when this happens, the 



2 . COMMUNITY CIVICS 

effect is the same as if there were no common purpose. No 
club or athletic team can be successful unless its members have 
a common purpose and understand it. In so far as our com- 
munities are imperfect — and none of them is perfect — it is 
largely because their members fail to recognize or understand 
their common purposes. 

People in communities have common purposes because they 
have the same wants. This may not at first seem to be true. 
In the streets of any large city we may see throngs 
poses due to of people hurrying hither and thitheV, jostling one 
common wants ^^other, apparently in the greatest confusion. 
We wonder where they are all going, what they are doing, what 
they are seeking. There seems to be no unity of purpose ; each 
person seems intent upon his own pursuits regardless of all 
others. The thing that first impresses us is the apparent 
variety of people's wants and often even the conflict or '^ cross- 
ing" of purposes. 

But no matter how numerous and varied our activities, 
they are all due to a very few important wants, common to all 
of us aHke. It will be worth while to test the truth of this, 
because it will help us to see our community life in some kind of 
order, and will throw a flood of light upon the common purposes 
that control it. 

For example, we all want food, drink, and sleep, clothing to 
protect our bodies, and houses to shelter us. But all these 
Physical things supply our physical wsmts ; that is, they re- 

wants: life late to life and health. Many of the things that we 
do every day are important because of their relation 
to our physical well-being. One reason why we enjoy out-of- 
door sports is that they make our blood tingle and give a sense 
of physical pleasure. Unless our physical wants are provided 
for, the other wants of hfe cannot well be satisfied. Good 
health is a priceless possession. 

Mention some things you have done to-day for your physical welfare. 



COMMON PURPOSES IN COMMUNITY LIFE 3 

Another reason why sports and games give pleasure is be- 
cause of the association they afford with other people. Associa- 
tion with others is a second great want which explains r^^^ ^^^^ ^ ^j. 
many of the things we do. Whatever may be our association 
other reasons for going to school, it affords us the ^^ 
opportunity to meet and work and play with other boys and 




"Inspired by a Common Purpose" 

girls to our pleasure and profit. One of the objections often 
raised against life in the country is the lack of opportunity for 
association with other people. But one may be very much 
alone in a city crowd, where nearly all are strangers to one 
another, and where there is very Httle real association among 
individuals. Families often live in the same apartment house 
without knowing one anothe . 

What are some things you do especially for the sake of companionship ? 

While going to school enables us to associate with others, the 
principal reason for going is to add to our knowledge. Whether 
we always like our studies or not, we certainly want knowledge, 
and seek it in many ways. We read the newspaper or maga- 
zine that comes to the home. We ask questions of parents 



4 COMMUNITY CIVICS 

and others who have more experience than we. We stop to 

watch a group of men at work, or to find out what has attracted 

„, . an unusual crowd. We may travel to see new 

The want / 

for sights. The discoveries and inventions that mark 

knowledge man's progress in civilization are the result of his 
unquenchable thirst for knowledge. 




Celebrating the Completion of an Ornamental Lighting System, 

Wichita Falls, Texas 

"Team work depends upon a common purpose. It is sometimes illustrated in 
our town when enthusiasm runs high over some public enterprise." 



Mention some of the different ways in which you seek knowledge. 
Mention some geographic and scientific discoveries that have been made 
through men's search for knowledge. 
What is science? Name some sciences. 

Besides health and knowledge and association with other 
people, we want surroundings that are pleasant and beautiful. 
The want for heauty is sometimes more neglected than other 



COMMON PURPOSES IN COMMUNITY LIFE 5 

« 
wants, but it is important, and we all have it and seek to 
satisfy it in some way or other. It may be at one time by a 
walk in the park, or at other times by cultivating xhe want 
flowers, by keeping our room tidy, by looking at *°^ beauty 
pictures, or by exercising good taste in clothing. We also enjoy 
that which is pleasing to the ear and to the other senses. We 
dislike hideous noises and foul odors. 

In what ways do you provide for this want? 




"The Little Sanctuary" 
Where Beauty and Religion blend 

Very likely we go to church on Sunday. It affords opportu- 
nity to associate with others, to add to our knowledge, and to 
hear beautiful music. But the church service is The religious 
one of the chief means by which people satisfy an- ^^^* 
other of the great wants of life — the religious want. In- 
dividuals differ in their religious ideas and in the depth of their 
religious feeling, but in every community there are certain 
things that men do because of it. 



6 COMMUNITY CIVICS 

What are some of the great religions of the world? 
Is religion a strong influence in your community? 

Can you mention any great historical events that were due to religious 
causes ? 

Sometimes after school, or on Saturdays, or in vacation time, 
we work at tasks to earn money, perhaps help in occupations 
The want that contribute to the "living" of the family. 

for wealth Doubtless we have thought more or less about 
what we are going to do for a living after we leave school. We 
all have a desire to own things, to have property, to accumulate 
wealth. This also is one of the great wants of life. We have 
perhaps already experienced the satisfaction of starting a bank 
account, of buying a set of tools, a bicycle, or some books. 
The chief reason why we want to "make money," or to own 
things (wealth), is because of what we can do with them. They 
enable us to satisfy our wants. Earning a living simply means 
earning the things that satisfy our wants in life. 

Make a blackboard list of the occupations by which the parents and other 
members of the families of the pupils in the class make a living. 

Make a blackboard list of things done by members of the class to earn 
money. 

What is your choice of occupation by which to make a living in the 
future? Why? Make a blackboard list for the whole class. 

The six kinds of wants that we have indicated clearly account 

for many of the things that we do. In fact, all of our wants 

are of one or other of these kinds and everything 

'XiiGSG w&nts 

give purpose we do is important because of its relation to them, 
to community "^g may not be ready, yet, to accept this state- 
ment. We may think of wants that seem at first 
not to fall under any of these six kinds. It will do no harm to 
add other kinds to the list if we think it necessary. But, at 
all events, the six kinds of wants mentioned are common to 
all of us. We live in communities in order to provide for them, 
and a community is good to live in in proportion as it affords 



COMMON PURPOSES IN COMMUNITY LIFE 7 

opportunity to provide for all of them adequately. It is these 
wants that give common purpose to our community life. 

Make as complete a list as possible of the things you did yesterday (out- 
side of school as well as in school). Then extend the list to include the 
more important things done during the entire week. 




Ernest L. Crandall 



Columbus Monument, Washington, D. C. 

It was the desire for knowledge, for wealth, and for the spread of Christianity 
that led Coliunbus to America. 



Write the six wants across the top of a page of your notebook or a sheet 
of paper : 

Health Knowledge Association Beauty Religion Wealth 

Arrange the activities in your list in the six columns according to the 
wants which they satisfy. If any activity clearly satisfies more than one 
of the wants, write it down in each of the proper columns. 

Which column is the longest? which comes next? which is the shortest? 



8 COMMUNITY CIVICS 

Is your longest column also the longest in the lists made by other members 
of your class? Compare your other columns with those of your classmates. 
Which wants seem to keep you busiest? 

Which do you think is most important? Why? Discuss this question 
in class. Do you all agree in regard to this point? 

If any of the activities in your list are for the purpose of earning money, 
tell for what you expect to spend the money. Show how the things 
you expect to buy with your money will help to satisfy your other five 
wants. 

For which of these six wants do you spend the most time in providing ? 
your father? your mother? If there is a difference in the three answers, 
why is it? 

Do you have difficulty in classifying any of the things you do, or that 
you see others do, under any of the six heads? Make note of these things 
and, as your study proceeds, see if the difficulty of classification is re- 
moved. 

Suppose a boy is a bully: what wants does he satisfy by his bullying 
conduct? Suppose a boy or a girl is ambitious to become a leader, either 
among present companions or later in social life, business, or politics : under 
which head or heads would you place this ambition? 

A boy wants to enlist in the army, or a girl as an army nurse : do these 
wants come under any of the six heads ? 

Would you, after your discussion of these topics, add any other group 
or kind of wants to the six mentioned? If so, what would you call it? 

Every one wants happiness. Why is it not necessary to make a special 
group under this head? 

Make a list of things done in your home to provide for each of the six 
wants. 

What is done in your school to provide for the want for health? for 
beauty? for association with others? for the religious want? Has your 
school work any relation to your desire to make a living? Is it the business 
of the school to provide for all these things as well as for the want for knowl- 
edge? 

Make a list of a few things done in your community outside of the home 
and school to provide for each of the six wants. 

Think of something in which your entire community is deeply interested, 
such as the improvement of the streets, or the building of a new high school, 
and explain what wants it provides for. 

What wants do the following things provide for : postal service ; weather 
reports; boy or girl scouts; a school garden; a library; the telephone; 
a hospital; a parent-teacher association? 



COMMON PURPOSES IN COMMUNITY LIFE 9 

We may often hear our common purposes as communities 
or as a nation stated in different terms than those suggested in 
the paragraphs above. For example, Franklin The purpose 
K. Lane, the Secretary of the Interior during °^ democracy 
the war, said, "Our national purpose is to transmute days of 
dreary work into happier lives — for ourselves first and for all 
others in their time." Again, President Wilson said that our 
purpose in entering the World War was to help "make the world 
safe for democracy." Although these two statements read 
differently, they mean very much the same thing ; and they both 
refer in general terms to the things this chapter discusses in more 
familiar and express terms. For "happier lives" can only 
result from a more complete satisfaction of our common wants. 
And " democracy" means, in part, that the common wants of all 
shall be properly provided for. 

In the Declaration of Independence we read: 

We hold these truths to he self-evident, that all men are created equal, that 
they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among 
these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. 

The statement that "all men are created equal" has troubled 
many people when they have thought of the obvious inequali- 
ties that exist in natural ability and opportunity. ^ ^ _ 
But whatever inequalities may exist, people are alienable 
equal in their right to satisfy the wants described "^ ^ 
in this chapter. These are the "unalienable rights" which the 
Declaration of Independence sums up in the phrase "life, 
liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." That community is 
best to live in that most nearly provides equal opportunity 
for all its citizens to enjoy these rights. From the Declaration 
of Independence to the present day our great national purpose 
has been to increase this opportunity, even though at times 
we have apparently not been conscious of it, and even though 
we have fallen short of its fulfillment. One of the chief objects 
of our study is to find out how our communities are seeking to 
accomplish this purpose. 



lO COMMUNITY CIVICS 

" The Declaration of Independence did not mention the questions of 
our day. It is of no consequence to us unless we can translate its gen- 
eral terms into examples of the present day and substitute them in 
some vital way for the examples it itself gives, so concrete, so intimately 
involved in the circumstances of the day in which it was conceived and 
written. It is an eminently practical document, meant for the use of 
practical men. . . . Unless we can translate it into the questions of 
our own day, we are not worthy of it, we are not sons of the sires who 
acted in response to its challenge." 

— WooDROW Wilson, in The New Freedom, pp. 48, 49. 

A and B are two boys of the same age. One was born in a rich family, 
and one in a very poor family. So far as this accident of birth is concerned, 
have they equal opportunity to satisfy the wants of life? Have they an 
equal right to health? to an education? to pleasant surroundings? to earn 
a good living? 

Suppose A is a native American boy, and B a foreign-born boy who speaks 
a foreign language : does this make any difference in their right to life and 
health, an education, etc. ? Does it make any difference in their opportunity 
to satisfy their wants in these directions? 

Can you think of persons in your community who have less opportunity 
to satisfy their wants than you have? Can you think of any persons who 
have less right to satisfy their wants than you have ? 

The first ten amendments to the Constitution of the United States com- 
prise what is known as a "bill of rights." Study together in class this bill 
of rights (see Appendix) to see how many of the wants described in this 
chapter are there provided for directly and indirectly. 

Has your state constitution a bill of rights? If so, read it together in 
class for the same purpose as suggested in the last question. 

READINGS 

Preamble of the Constitution of the United States (see Appendix). 

The Declaration of Independence. 

Dunn, Arthur W., The Community and the Citizen, chaps, i, iv (Heath). 

Tufts, James H., The Real Business of Living (Henry Holt & Co.), chap, xxxix, 

" Democracy as Equality." 
Van Dyke, Henry, "Equality of Opportunity," in Long's American Patriotic Prose, 

pp. 311, 312 (Heath). 
See the note on reference materials in the Introduction to this book, page v. 

It should become a habit of both teacher and pupils to be on the constant 
lookout for news items and discussions in available newspapers and periodi- 



COMMON PURPOSES IN COMMUNITY LIFE II 

cals illustrative of the points made in each chapter or lesson. Individual 
scrapbooks may be made ; but more important than this is the assembling 
of such material as a class enterprise, its classification under proper heads, 
and its preservation in scrapbooks or in files as working material for suc- 
ceeding classes. There will always be enough for each class to do, while 
each class at the same time contributes to the success of the work of later 
classes. The idea of service should dominate such work. 



CHAPTER II 

HOW WE DEPEND UPON ONE ANOTHER IN 
COMMUNITY LIFE 

Nothing could be freer than air. But, even as we sit in 
our schoolroom, whether or not we get all the pure air we need 
depends upon how the schoolhouse was built for 
emfean'^^ " ventilation, the number of people who occupy the 
important room, the care that is taken by others to keep 

*^* the room free from dust, the health and cleanliness 

of those who sit in the room with us. If this dependence upon 
others is true in the case of the very air we breathe, how much 
more true it must be of other necessaries of life that are not so 
abundant. 

This dependence of people upon one another for the satis- 
faction of their wants is one of the most important facts about 
community life. It is not merely that A and B have the same 
wants, but that A is dependent upon B, and B upon A, for the 
satisfaction of their wants, that makes their wants common. 

Mention the people, both inside and outside of your home, who had a 
share in providing for you the food you had for breakfast or dinner. 

Mention all the workers that occur to you who have been employed in 
producing for you the clothing you w^ar ; the book you are reading ; the 
materials of which your house is built. 

Show how the people who produce these things are dependent upon your 
wants for their livelihood. 

Show that you are dependent upon other people for your education; 
for recreation. Are other people dependent upon your education for their 
welfare? Are others dependent on you for their recreation? 

The farmer's life, like that of the pioneer, is comparatively 
independent. In early New England 

12 



HOW WE DEPEND UPON ONE ANOTHER 



13 




Covirtesy American Magazine of Art 

The Pioneer 

Statue at the University of Oregon 

"He landed at Plymouth Rock and with his dull-eyed oxen has made the long, 
long journey across our continent. His way has been hard, slow, momentous, 
"Without him we would not be here. 
"His is this one glory — he found the way." — Franklin K. Lane. 



14 



COMMUNITY CIVICS 



Every farmhouse was a manufactory, not of one kind of goods, but of 
many. All day long in the chamber or attic the sound of the spinning-wheel 
and loom could be heard. Carpets, shawls, bed-spreads, 
table-covers, towels, and cloth for garments were made 
from materials produced on the farm. The kitchen of 
the house was a baker's shop, a confectioner's establish- 
ment, and a chemist's laboratory. Every kind of food for immediate use 
was prepared there daily; and on special occasions sausages, head cheese, 



Independ- 
ence of the 
pioneer 




Isolation 

A pioneer homestead on the prairies 



pickles, apple butter, and preserves were made. It was also the place where 
soap, candles, and vinegar were manufactured. Agricultural implements 
were then few and simple, and farmers made as many of them as they could. 
Every farmhouse was a creamery and cheese factory. As there were no 
sewing machines, the farmer's wife and daughters had to ply the hand 
needle most of the time when they were not engaged in more laborious pur- 
suits. During the long evenings they generally knit socks and mittens or 
made rag carpets.^ 

As soon as a number of people come to live together, even in 
a pioneer community, it is likely that some members will have 

^Nourse, Agricultural Economics, p. 64, from "The Farmer's Changed Condi- 
tions," by Rodney Welsh, in the Forum, x, 689-92 (Feb., 1891). 



HOW WE DEPEND UPON ONE ANOTHER 



15 



a knack for doing certain things of use to the community 
better than others can do them. Thus one man may be 
especially skillful in making ax handles. In time, ^j^^ growth 
the entire community comes to depend upon him of inter- 
for its ax handles. In addition, he probably makes ®^®^ ^^^^ 
other tools and does repair work of all kinds. This requires 




The Spinning Room at Mt. Vernon, Washington's Old Home 

"All day long in the chamber or attic the sound of the spinning-wheel 

and loom could be heard." 

so much of his time that he does little or no farming, and de- 
pends upon others for his food supply. So, in the course of 
time, the community has its blacksmiths, carpenters, shoe- 
makers, teachers, storekeepers, doctors, upon whom it depends 
for their special kinds of service, while each of them depends 
upon others to supply the wants that he has neither the time 
nor the skill to supply for himself. Thus interdependence 
develops in the simplest communities. 



i6 



COMMUNITY CIVICS 



The larger a community becomes the greater, in many ways, 
is the interdependence of its members. The greater the num- 
Interdepend- ber of people, and the more closely together they 
ence increas- \[yQ^ ^j^g more easily is disease spread and the more 
growth of the one's health depends upon what one's neighbors 
community ^Jq The same is true with respect to safety of 
life and of property. The property that we own may increase 




Spinning Room in Modern Cotton Mill 



or decrease in value according to the care that our neighbors take 
of their property; it will be less valuable if the neighbors let 
their buildings run down and their premises become littered with 
trash, than it will be if they keep their buildings in good repair 
and their premises in good order. Men often buy property and 
let it lie idle while it increases in value because of improvements 
in the neighborhood. The increase in value of property due to 
this cause is known as the unearned increment — that is, the un- 
earned increase. 



HOW WE DEPEND UPON ONE ANOTHER 



17 





"* #s »i .; 

'.t~ ;-• :i "• 






...»5^.^P°* 



An Area of High Values 

The church building shown here (Trinity Church, New York City) was erected 
in 1846. Since then all these massive buildings have crowded around it, until the 
land values at this point are probably higher than anywhere else in the world. 

When Judge Edward Pinkney Hill, one time a citizen of Houston, Texas, 
died, he left a will to the following effect: 

"I give, bequeath and return to the people of Houston in their corporate 
capacity as the city of Houston ... all my property, real and personal, 
that I may own at my death. 



1 8 ' COMMUNITY CIVICS 

"I am influenced to this disposition of my estate by the reflection that I 
went to Houston early in 1886 with nothing. When I had made a few 
dollars above necessity I invested in city lots and continued like investments 
while I lived there up to 1897, before which time, after a division of my prop- 
erty, there remained to me enough to enable me to retire from business. 
This good fortune came unearned by me through increased value of real 
estate, and it seems appropriate that the city of Houston should have such 
share in that good fortune as I am in a situation to return." ^ 

What is your opinion of the citizenship of this citizen of Houston? 

Do you know of cases in your own community where land has increased 
in value while lying idle? The reasons? 

Do you know of cases in your community where property has depreciated 
in value because of neighborhood influences? 

Why should the growth of your community increase the value of your 
home? Why should the care you take of your premises tend to influence the 
growth of your community? 

Give illustrations to show how your health is dependent upon other people 
in your home, in your neighborhood, in remote parts of the city. Also, 
how the health of others may be dependent upon you. 

Suppose a schoolmate comes to school with measles or some other con- 
tagious disease. How may this affect your school work? Your association 
with others? How may it ever add to your father's expenses? 

Show the interdependence of people in your community for safety from 
fire ; for safety from accident in the shop or on the street. 

Is your family more or less dependent upon others to supply its wants 
than the families of your parents or grandparents when they were children ? 
Why is it? Get all the information you can from your parents or grand- 
parents on this point. 

Which is more dependent upon others for its daily wants, a family that 
lives on a farm in your neighborhood or one that lives in town? Give 
examples to prove your answer. 

A city man may be entirely unacquainted with most of the 
people around him, even in his own block, and may apparently 
Interde- have no concern in their affairs. And yet doubt- 

pendence j^gg j^^g^ ^^ j^-g neighbors and many of those whom 

not always ° ... 

apparent he passes on the street are engaged in industries or 

businesses without which his own business or profession might 

fail, or without which he could not even build his own home. 

^Quoted from The American City, Nov., 1920, p. 509. 



HOW WE DEPEND UPON ONE ANOTHER 



19 



Make a census of the block in which you live and tabulate the occupations, 
businesses, and professions represented by the residents, including that of 
your father. Then show the interdependence existing among them. 




Teeming Life in the City 

"Throngs of people hurrying hither and thither, apparently in the greatest 
confusion. Interdependence may easily be lost sight of when the community 
becomes large; but it is none the less real, and even more far-reaching." 

If we want coffee, or sugar, or other provisions for breakfast 

or dinner, we go or telephone to the grocer. He performs an 

important service for us. If his service is poor, 

1 1 1 • Ti 1 • ^1- Familiar 

or his prices too high, he is likely to receive the examples of 

blame for it. But the prices he charges and the interdepend- 

service he gives are partly dependent upon his 

customers ; and the customers are dependent upon one another, 

to some extent, for the prices they pay and the service they 

get. It takes money to run a grocery. If some customers are 

slow in paying their accounts, it interferes with the service 



20 COMMUNITY CIVICS 

given to themselves and to other customers. The prices a 
grocer charges are likely to be put high enough to cover losses 
from the failure of an occasional customer to pay his bills. 
In these days of telephones, it is a common practice for people 
to telephone frequent orders during the day for small items and 
ask to have them delivered, whereas, with a little forethought, 
the day's supplies could be ordered at one time and delivered 
at one time. Frequent deliveries at one home tend to delay 
deliveries at other homes and to add to prices, for the main- 
tenance of a deUvery system adds to the grocer's expenses. 

The interdependence of people in communities extends far 
beyond the limits of the neighborhood or city, as will be seen 
J , if we follow through the process by which almost 

pendence any of our common needs is provided for. We 

far-reaching ^^n^^ ^ pair of shoes, for example. Though 
bought at a local store, they are made for us in a factory em- 
ploying hundreds of men and women, probably in a distant 
city, say in Massachusetts. The leather from which they are 
made is produced from the hides of cattle raised in the Far West 
or perhaps even on the plains of Argentina. It is tanned by the 
use of an acid from the bark of certain forest trees. The 
machinery by which the shoes are made is manufactured still by 
other machines, and the necessary metals are produced by 
miners. To smelt the ores from which the metals come, and to 
operate the factories, there must be fuel from other mines. The 
workers engaged in all these operations must be fed and clothed 
and housed, requiring the labor of farmers and food packers, 
millers and bakers, lumbermen and carpenters, operators 
of cotton and woolen mills, and many others. At every stage 
transportation enters in, — by team and automobile truck, by 
railway, by water. The money with which we buy the shoes 
is coined or printed in establishments operated by our govern- 
ment from metals or on paper produced by a variety of indus- 
tries. It has come into our possession to use in buying shoes 



HOW WE DEPEND UPON ONE ANOTHER 21 

because we, or our parents, have earned it by performing some 
service useful to all the other workers. 

These are only a part of the activities necessary in order that 
we may have a pair of shoes. It would seem that practically 
every kind of worker and industry in the world has something 
to do with it. People in communities to-day are indeed very 
interdependent. 

Make a list of the occupations of the parents of the members of your class, 
and show how the parents of each pupil are dependent upon the occupations 
of the parents of all the other members. « 

We best realize our interdependence when something happens 
to disturb our accustomed relations, just as we best realize 
the value of the telephone when it is out of order, 
or of the street cars when they are not running, results of 

We are unpleasantly reminded of it, for example, interde- 

, 111- pendence 

when our apparently smoothly running com- 
munity life is thrown into confusion by a strike of some group of 
railroad men, of carpenters or steamfitters, of steel workers, of 
miners, of teamsters, or of longshoremen. 

The recent great war produced conditions that made us conscious of our 
interdependence in unexpected ways. For example, if we had gone into a 
store to buy underwear in the early part of the war, we should have found 
that the price had greatly increased, and we might have been told, if the 
salesmen were well informed, that the high price was due in part to the 
manufacture of airplanes! The explanation is that the wire stays used in 
the manufacture of airplanes are made of steel wire from which machine 
knitting needles are also made. In the early part of the war all of the avail- 
able wire of this kind was taken for airplanes, thus limiting the supply of 
knitting needles and consequently of knit goods. 

This chapter is meant to suggest by a few examples how im- 
possible it is for any one in the community to live to himself. 
Each is affected for good or for ill by all that goes -^^ ^^^ ^^^ 
on around him, and each in turn exerts his in- live to him- 
fluence upon others. An apparently insignificant 
act may profoundly affect the Hfe of the community. A family 



2 2 COMMUNITY CIVICS 

that is careless in the disposal of refuse from the house or stable 
may unconsciously poison the water supply of an entire com- 
munity. Sometimes men oppose public improvements, such as 
paved streets or a new school building, because they see only 
the direct money cost, and fail to see more important losses to 
themselves and to the community if the improvements are not 
made. 

These facts suggest the unwisdom of forming hasty judgments 
about things that happen, or conditions that exist, or proposals 
Danger of ^^^^ ^^^ made, in our community life. There are 
hasty judg- people in every community who are always ready 
^^^ ^ to tell glibly just why the cost of living is so high, 

and who is to blame for it ; or just how the schools, or the rail- 
roads, or the city government, should be run to get the best 
results. As a matter of fact, even those conditions or events 
that are apparently most simple are usually related to other 
conditions and events that are not at first apparent. Wise 
judgment and wise action are dependent upon the most com- 
plete knowledge obtainable. 

Another result of this fact of interdependence in community 
life is that it places certain restrictions upon our liberty, which 
is said by the Declaration of Independence to be one of the 
''unalienable rights" of all men. If any member of the com- 
munity had absolute liberty to do as he pleased, he would 
soon interfere with the rights of others. Then what would 
become of the "equality" which the Declaration 
pendence ^^^^ proclaims? Equal liberty for all is the aim of 

restricts democracy, and this can be obtained only when 

each acts with full regard for the rights of others. 
This is what is meant by "justice." "Liberty," "justice," 
"equality," — these are essential in a democracy. But they 
are often misunderstood. 

"What is liberty? I have long had an image in my mind of what con- 
stitutes liberty. Suppose that I were to build a great piece of powerful 



HOW WE DEPEND UPON ONE ANOTHER 



23 




Courtesy American Magazine of Art 

Washington Monument, Washington, D. C. 

"It stands in our national capital as the uplifted arm of a free people rising to the 
heavens as a national pledge, that we who have had the advantages of free 
institutions, that we who have in our hearts ideals of liberty and justice, will 
stand firm as stone and pledge our eternal loyalty to those ideals, to those mysteri- 
ous things which go to make up a democracy. It is that' spirit that makes 
America." — Franklin K. Lane. 



24 COMMUNITY CIVICS 

machinery, and suppose that I should so awkwardly and unskillfuUy assemble 
the parts of it that every time one part tried to move it would be interfered 
with by others. Liberty for the several parts would consist in the best 
possible assembling and adjustment of them all, would it not? That is 
liberty ! You say of the locomotive — it runs free. What do you mean ? 
You mean that its parts are so assembled and adjusted that friction is 
reduced to the minimum", and that it has perfect adjustment. . . . Human 
freedom consists in perfect adjustments of human interests and human 
activities and human energies." 

— WooDROW Wilson, The New Freedom, p. 282. 

In an entertaining article in the American Magazine for September, 1920, 
Mr. Irving S. Cobb says, "My present aim is to show how utterly we have 
lost our freedom in certain minor details; for example: 

Freedom to wear the sort of garments one fancies. 

Freedom from unnecessary and nerve-shredding noises. 

Freedom to enjoy a reasonable degree of privacy, when so inclined. 

Freedom to have, in moderation, fresh air and light. 

Freedom to practice thrift in the matter of spending — or husbanding — 
one's spare cash." 

Show how our dependence upon one another restricts our freedom in each 
of the above particulars. 

Does a child become more or less dependent upon others as he grows 
older? Explain your answer. 

Show that as a person becomes more "self-dependent" other people 
become more dependent upon him ; for example, in the home, and in school. 

We often hear of "self-made men." What does it mean? Can a man be 
entirely "self-made"? 

Show that your schoolmates are as dependent upon you as you are upon 
them. 

Watch the newspapers for items illustrating interdependence, or con- 
flicts due to it. 

Is the community in which you live dependent upon you in any way? 
Give illustrations. 

Taxpayers like to keep the tax rate as low as possible. In their interest 
in doing this, is it possible that they might interfere with your getting a good 
education in favorable surroundings? Explain. Who are the taxpayers? 

From observation in your own community, give illustrations to show 
how people, in attempting to satisfy their own wants, may interfere with the 
efforts of others to satisfy theirs. The following are given as suggestions : 

An employer and those whom he employs. 



HOW WE DEPEND UPON ONE ANOTHER 25 

A man who owns a house and the tenant to whom he rents it. 

A man who keeps a livery stable adjoining a schoolhouse. 

A grocer who displays his goods on the sidewalk (especially food products). 

A boy who raises chickens and one who has a garden adjoining. 

READINGS 

Lessons in Community and National Life (see note on reference materials in Intro- 
duction) : 
Series A : Lesson i, Some fundamental aspects of social organization. 

Lesson 2, The western pioneer. 
Series B : Lesson i, The effect of the war on commerce in nitrate. 
Lesson 2, The varied occupations of a colonial farm. 
Lesson 12, Impersonality of modern life. 
Series C : Lesson i, The war and aeroplanes. 

Lesson 2, Spinning and dyeing in colonial times. 
Lesson 9, Inventions. 

Lesson 11, The effects of machinery on rural life. 
Dunn, Arthur W., The Community and the Citizen, chaps, i, v; and Community 

Civics and Rural Life, chap. ii. 
Tufts, James H., The Real Business of Living, chap, xiv (The New Meaning of Life), 

and chap, xxxi (Problems of country life) . 
Earle, Alice Morse, Home Life in Colonial Days (Macmillan). 

Finley, John H., "Paths of the Pioneers," in Long's American Patriotic Prose, pp. 1-4. 
Pioneer stories from any available source, especially local history stories. 



CHAPTER III 
THE NEED FOR COOPERATION IN COMMUNITY LIFE 

When people have common purposes and are dependent 
upon one another in accompHshing them, there must be co- 
The need Operation, which is another name for "team work." 

for team A team of horses that does not pull together can- 

^°^ not haul a heavy load. A baseball team, though 

composed of good players, will seldom win games unless its 
team work is good. A few soldiers or policemen may easily 
disperse a mob, because they have team work, while a mob 
usually does not. This principle of "pulling together," "team 
work," or "cooperation," is of the greatest importance in com- 
munity life. There can be no real community life without it. 

Cooperation is sometimes a very simple matter, as when a 
number of boys join forces to move a heavy object that defies 
the efforts of one. When children help their mother in house- 
hold tasks it is an example of team work. Because all share in 
the task, it is completed quickly and pleasantly. A group of 
girls or boys may study a lesson together, and by their united 
effort learn it more quickly and happily than if each studied 
by himself. 

However, the group of girls or boys who are "studying to- 
gether" may fail to get results ; instead of having learned their 
Essentials lesson more quickly, they may find that no one 
for effective has mastered it. This may be merely because 
coopera ion Q^her interests have been allowed to 'interfere 
with the common purpose for which they came together. But 

it may also be due to the lack of two things that are quite 

26 



COOPERATION IN COMMUNITY LIFE 



27 




(Courtesy of Annour & Co.) 



success! 



In Union There is Strength 



28 



COMMUNITY CIVICS 



necessary for effective team work, namely, organization and 
leadership. 

If we watch a group of workmen lifting a steel rail, or other 
heavy object, we shall perhaps observe that some one of them 
nization §^^^^ ^ signal, and that all sing out in unison, 
and leader- '' Yo, heave, ho 1" This has the effect of organizing 
^^^P their effort, so that all exert their strength at the 

same moment and with the greatest result. In homes where the 




Pulling Together 



mother and children do the housework, it moves most smoothly 
when it is organized under leadership. In this case there is 
probably a division of labor; that is, instead of all washing the 
dishes, which might cause confusion in the kitchen, two may 
perform this task, while another may make the beds, and an- 
other straighten up the front part of the house. 

What are the advantages of such organization of home work? 
If one or more servants are employed in the home, does it increase or 
decrease family cooperation? Why? Under these conditions what part 



COOPERATION IN COMMUNITY LIFE 29 

does the mother of the family play? The children in the family? What 
advantages may be gained by this kind of organization in the home? 

Give examples of cooperation in your home, and show what is gained by it 
In what ways do you think cooperation could be improved in your home? 
Work out a plan for it. 

Give examples of cooperation in your school. Suggest plans to improve 
such cooperation; 

Give illustrations of the failure of enterprises in which you have been 
interested because of a lack of team work. 

Athletic sports afford excellent examples of organization and 
leadership to secure team wori. In a baseball or football team, 
each member plays a part different from that of all the others, 
but all work together like a machine. We have only to compare 
the playing of a professional team with that of a chance ''nine" 
of boys hastily brought together on a city lot, to see the im- 
portance of organization under leadership. We see it again if 
we compare the highly effective work of a fire company, or a 
battalion of companies, with the futile efforts of an equally 
earnest crowd of unorganized people to save property from fire. 
Every industrial plant, and every successful business establish- 
ment such as a bank or a department store, or a newspaper 
ofhce, affords an example of organization and leadership to 
secure cooperation. Business simply cannot be carried on 
successfully without it. 

Describe in detail the "organization" of an athletic team. Just how 
does each feature in this organization help to secure team work? 

Do the same for a fire company in your community. 

If your father or other member of your family works in a large store or 
factory, or helps to manage one, ask him how team work is secured there, 
how the work is organized for that purpose, how leadership is provided for. 
Have reports of these conversations made in class. 

Study the organization of a factory, department store, or newspaper 
establishment in your community. Observe particularly how each worker 
in one of these establishments is likely to be a "specialist" (what does this 
mean?), and how organization and leadership combine the work of all these 
specialists in the final product, such as the printed newspaper. 

List the clubs, or other "pupil organizations," in your school, and "or- 



30 



COMMUNITY CIVICS 



ganizations" to which you belong outside of school. Note the "common 
purpose" of each; the interdependence of the members of each. Describe 
how each is organized for teamwork. How is leadership provided for? Is 
there a "constitution"? If so, what is it for? 

Describe the organization of your school. How does it secure team 
work ? Does it fail in any way to secure team work ? If so, why is it ? 




Direct Cooperation in Building Farm Bureau Center Hall 
Men of the community giving their labor 

Under the conditions of pioneer life, if a church or a school- 
house or a dwelling were to be built, the men of the neighborhood 
Industrial were likely to join forces, going to the woods to cut 
organization i\yQ timber, hewing it into shape with their axes, 
and erecting the building by massing their labor. Under 
present-day conditions buildings are usually erected very 
differently. The materials are no longer produced from the 
neighboring forest, but from remote forests, mines, and quarries, 
and are transformed from the raw materials into suitable forms 
for building by a great variety of widely distributed industries. 
These products are assembled by various means of transportation 



COOPERATION IN COMMUNITY LIFE 



31 



in distributing centers, whence they are finally brought to the 
building site. Many kinds of workers who are personally un- 
known to one another are engaged in these operations; and 
the building itself is constructed by a variety of specialized 
workers, such as carpenters, masons, painters, etc. This whole 
process, like that of producing the pair of shoes (page 20), is 




Play Shed and Gymnasium Built by Eighth Grade Boys 
Team work and leadership were necessary 

made possible by the extremely complex industrial organization 
of the present time. 

We need only to look around us to find examples in abundance 
of organized cooperation. Wherever a number of people have 
a strong interest in the same thing, they are likely clubs and 
to organize to promote it. Hence we find clubs and associations^ 
associations almost too numerous to mention. Men engaged in 
the same line of business or in the same profession organize, as in 
the case of grocers' associations, bankers' associations, medical 
associations, bar associations, teachers' associations, and trade 
unions of various kinds. Then there are organizations of men 
who are in different lines of business, but who haVe certain broad 



32 COMMUNITY CIVICS 

interests in common, such as rotary clubs, chambers of com- 
merce, merchants' and manufacturers' associations, and the Hke. 
A church is an institution to enable people of the same 
rehgious faith to cooperate in religious matters. A pubhc school 
provides the entire community with a means of 

Church, ^ 1 1 • r 1 • ) 

School and cooperating for the education of the community s 
Library children (see page 40). In a small community 

there may be comparatively few people who can afford to buy 
a hundred books each year ; but there might easily be a hundred 
persons who could buy one book each, and by some arrangement 
exchange with one another, so that each could in the course of a 
year have the use of a hundred books. Neighborhood clubs 
are sometimes organized to subscribe for magazines on this 
plan. A public library is a cooperative arrangement by which 
a great variety of good reading matter is made available to the 
entire community at trifling cost to each member. In fact, 
we may be able to draw books from the library without any cost 
to ourselves ; but the books which we thus enjoy cost the com- 
munity a large sum of money, and our free enjoyment of them 
is one of the advantages of community cooperation. Our 
part in the cooperation is in using the books carefully and in 
returning them promptly, so that as many people as possible 
may have the use of them. 

If there is a public library in your community, what benefits do you get 
from it? About how many books do you draw from it in a year? What 
would these books cost you if you bought them? What do they cost when 
you draw them from the library? 

Usually a fine is imposed for keeping a book from the library beyond a 
specified time. Show why this is proper. 

If you or your parents are members of a church, make a study of the 
various ways in which the church provides for cooperation, and the purposes 
for which cooperation is sought. 

Show how the community cooperates through the public school system. 

Make a list of all the organizations of business and professional men and 
women known to you in your city. What are the specific purposes of each? 

Make a list of such clubs, associations, or societies of men and women as 



COOPERATION IN COMMUNITY LIFE 



33 




A Public Library is a Cooperative Arrangement 



occur to you in your city. Write the purposes of each opposite its name. 
To how many of these do members of your family belong ? 

Write the six great wants across the top of a page, as suggested in topic 2 
on page 7, and arrange the lists of organizations suggested in the last two 
questions in the proper columns according to the wants they provide for. 

Organization for cooperation is by no means confined to the 
city or other local community. People with common purposes 
organize for cooperation on a state-wide or nation-wide scale. 
Following is a list, taken from a city telephone directory, show- 



34 COMMUNITY CIVICS 

ing a few of the many national organizations having of&ces in 
that city. This Hst is given not to be learned, of course, but 
Nation-wide merely to suggest the extent and variety of the 
cooperation evidence of national cooperation to be found in 
any large city. 

National Association of Manufacturers. 

National Board of Farm Organizations. 

National Civil Service Reform League. 

National Committee on Prisons and Prison Labor. 

National Congress of Mothers. 

National Conservation Association. 

National Education Association. 

National Geographic Society. 

The National Grange. 

National League of Women Voters. 

National Merchant Marine Association. 

National News Service. 

National Red Cross. 

National Voters' League. 

American Association for the Advancement of Science. 

American Association of Engineers. 

American Civic Association. 

American Federation of Labor. 

American Forestry Association. 

American Recreation League. 

In spite of all these local and national organizations, coopera- 
tion is far from complete either in our local or national com- 
Cooperation mmiities. Although there is a National Con- 
imperfectly servation Association, for example, a very smaU 
eve ope number of the people of the United States actually 

belong to it, or even show any active interest in the conservation 
of our natural resources (see page 210). -Under the stress of the 
great war, when the people were thoroughly aroused to the 
great issues at stake, national cooperation was secured with 
remarkable completeness. But when the perils of war were over, 
divergent interests began to reappear. Employers and employ- 
ees are really engaged in the same enterprise and have great 



COOPERATION IN COMMUNITY LIFE 35 

interests in common. But these are too often overshadowed by 
certain apparently opposing interests, leading to conflict where 
there ought to be the closest team work. In any city the 
people of one district may be entirely out of harmony with 
those of another district to the great disadvantage of both 
districts and of the city as a whole. Even in a school one or 
more of the *' organizations" among the pupils may become 
so intent upon their narrow group interests as to obstruct the 
broader interests of the whole school. 

The necessity for cooperation in the performance of a given 
service is not limited to the particular group held responsible 
for performing the service. In a certain school, who is 
just before a football game, a large poster was responsible? 
displayed which read, " Do Not Hope the Team Will Win ; Come 
Out and Help It Win !" The team was the school's team, and 
its success depended upon the support given it by the entire 
school. We noticed in Chapter II how the service given by the 
grocer depends in large measure on the cooperation he receives 
from his customers (page 19). The success of our army at the 
front during the war depended upon the national morale, and 
upon the support given it by every home and shop and farm in 
the country. A street railway system is usually pretty well 
organized ; but no matter what measures it takes to insure serv- 
ice to the public, it cannot be completely successful without 
the cooperation of the public. For example, the service afforded 
at "rush hours" of traffic would be greatly improved if pas- 
sengers would but observe the requests of the management to 
"move forward" and to "have exact fare ready" on entering 
the car. Failure to cooperate in such small matters delays the 
transportation service of an entire city. 

Compile a list of ways in which the public may contribute to the improve- 
ment of the transportation service of the city. The telephone service. 
Other forms of "public service." 

Cooperation is very largely a matter of habit ; and habits can 



36 



COMMUNITY CIVICS 



be formed only by practice. Opportunity to practice cooperation 
exists not only in the school and on the playground, nor 
c •■ ti n even merely in the neighborhood or city, where 
a matter of there is always the opportunity to cooperate in 
^ ^* the interest of public health, public safety, and 

public welfare generally, but even in national affairs. The war 




"Do NOT HOPE We'll Win; Come Out and HELP Win !" 

gave us a wonderful demonstration of the ability of Young 
America to perform service that counts in time of national need. 
Young citizens of school age contributed hundreds of millions 
of dollars to the service of the nation. This was done almost 
entirely by team work through such organizations as the Junior 
Red Cross, the Boy and Girl Scouts, the School Garden Army, 
Thrift Clubs, and the like, or through the organization of, the 
school. The value of all this was not so much in the actual dollars 
raised or service performed as in the experience it gave in organ- 
ized team work under leadership. Similar cooperation is always 



COOPERATION IN COMMUNITY LIFE 



37 



possible and always necessary if our community life is to be at 

all successful. 

To what organizations did you belong for war service? Do these organ- 
izations still exist? Are they as active as during the war? Have they 
turned to a "peace program"? Are you still an active member? 




Cooperation is Needed Here 
The service afforded at rush hours would be greatly improved if passengers would 
observe the requests of the management to "move forward" and to "have exact 
fare ready." 

Describe the Boy Scouts, or the Girl Scouts, as an organization for team 
work. The Junior Red Cross. 

Discuss the importance of leadership in school activities. What are the 
qualities that make a good leader? 

Who are some of the best-known leaders in your city, both men and 
women? In what fields of public welfare are they leaders? 

In what particular projects are you now engaged, along with others, for 
the benefit of your school? For the benefit of your city? 



38 



COMMUNITY CIVICS 



Make a list of projects in which you and others of your age might effec- 
tively participate for the benefit of your community. As you proceed 
with your study, add to this list. 

What existing organizations are there through which you might work in 
carrying out these projects? 

If there is no existing organization through which to work for any of these 
projects, plan a suitable organization to fill the need. Where would you 
look for suitable leadership? 




Team Work in a Great Cause 

'Every one who creates or cultivates a garden helps, and helps greatly, to solve 
the problem of the feeding of the nations." — Woodrow Wilson. 



READINGS 

Civic Training through Service, Teachers' Leaflet No. 8, United States Bureau of 

Education. 
Lessons in Community and National Life: 

Series A: Lesson i, Some fundamental aspects of social organization. 
Lesson 3, The cooperation of specialists in modern society. 
Lesson 7, Organization. 
Lesson 8, The rise of machine industry 
Series B : Lesson 4, Feeding a city. 

Lesson 25, Concentration of production in the meat-packing industry. 
Lesson 26, Concentration in the marketing of citrus fruits. 
Tufts, James H., The Real Business of Living, chaps, ii, iii, viii, xv, xvi. 
Dunn, Arthur W., Community Civics and Rural Life, chap. iii. 



COOPERATION IN COMMUNITY LIFE 39 

Write to your State Agricultural College for its publications relating to 
the growth of rural cooperation. 

A wide range of material relating to rural cooperation may be found in 
the publications of the United States Department of Agriculture. Write for 
material on this subject. The following titles are illustrative: 

Organization of Rural Interests, Year Book Separate 626. 

Organization of a Rural Community, Year Book Separate 632. 

Farm Bureau Organization, States Relations Service Document 54. 

County Organization, States Relations Service Document 65. 

Cooperative Stores, Department of Agriculture Bulletin 394. 

Cooperative Purchasing and Marketing Organizations, Department ot 
Agriculture Bulletin 547. 

Organization and Results of Boys' and Girls' Club Work, Department of 
Agriculture Circular 66. 

Watch your newspapers and the magazines for illustrations of cooperation 
or the lack of it. 



CHAPTER IV 

WHY WE HAVE GOVERNMENT 

We are now in a better position to understand why we have 
government. It is an organization to secure cooperation, or 

team work, on the part of the entire community. 
a means When a schoolhouse is built, there is cooperation 

to secure of a highly organized kind in the production and 

assembling of the materials and in the construction 
of the building by workmen of different kinds. But more than 
this, since the schoolhouse is a public building, the community 

cooperates in paying for it. This is done by means 

of taxes. The people pay taxes also to meet the 
cost of operating the school, — paying the teachers, buying 
equipment, and heating the building. 

The community must know how much money is needed to 
operate the school, and the school must be properly managed 
to perform the community's work of education effectively. 
In small communities the people may meet together to vote 
the taxes and to decide on other matters relating to education, 
as in New England towns. But there must be educational 
leadership, and there must be an organization to perform the 
work which the community wants done. Every community 
therefore has its board of education, or school committee, its 
school superintendent, and other officials. Such organization 
corresponds very closely to the board of directors and manager 
of a business concern, only it represents the entire community 
and attends to the community's business of education. It is 
part of the community's governing machinery. 

40 



WHY WE HAVE GOVERNMENT 



41 



Ascertain from your father how much school tax he pays each year. 
If he does not know, try to find out elsewhere. Who determines the amount 
of this tax? To whom is it paid? 

Could you employ a teacher at home for the amount your father pays as 
school tax ? If you had a teacher at home, could you get as good an educa- 
tion as you can now get at school? Explain your answer. 

In what ways do you cooperate with the community to make the school 
a success? 




Unorganized Cooperation 
"When a building in a rural community takes fire, the neighbors gather 
as quickly as possible to fight the flames, but seldom very effectively." 



When a building in a rural community takes fire, the neighbors 
gather as quickly as possible to fight the flames by such means 
as may be at hand, but seldom very effectively, in fire 
In a small city or town, there may be a volunteer protection 
fire company composed of men who, when a fire breaks out, 
leave their usual occupations to save the property. In large 
cities, fully equipped and costly fire departments are main- 
tained, with paid firemen who are always on duty. The police 
usually keep the crowd away from the burning building, not 



42 



COMMUNITY CIVICS 



only for their own safety, but because they would hinder rather 
than help the trained and organized firemen. In each case there 
is cooperation for fire protection; the greater the common 
danger, the more perfect the organization and the more com- 
plete the control by government. 




Organized Cooperation 

"In cities fully eqmpped and costly fire departments with firemen who are always 
on duty. The pohce usually keep the crowd away." 

In Benjamin Franklin's time, each householder in Philadelphia 
swept the pavement in front of his home if he wanted it kept 
In health clean. FrankUn, who was a splendid example 

protection of good citizenship in that he was always looking 
for opportunities to improve his community, tells what hap- 
pened : 

One day I found a poor industrious man, who was willing to undertake 
keeping the pavement clean by sweeping it twice a week, carrying off the dirt 
from before all the neighbors' doors, for the sum of sixpence per month to 



WHY WE HAVE GOVERNMENT 



43 




Courtesy American Magazine of Art 
Benjamin Feanklin 
*'A Splendid Example of Good Citizenship" 
Statue by Paul Bartlett in front of Library, Waterbury, Conn. 



be paid by each house. I then wrote and printed a paper setting forth the 
advantages to the neighborhood that might be obtained by this small 
expense. ... I sent one of these papers to each house, and in a day or two 
went around to see who would subscribe an agreement to pay these six- 
pences; it was unanimously signed, and for a time well executed. This 
raised a general desire to have all the streets paved, and made the people more 
wilhng to submit to a tax for that purpose. 



44 COMMUNITY CIVICS 

This was community cooperation under simple conditions. 
A hundred years later, the one and a half milHon people living 
in Philadelphia were just as truly cooperating to keep their city 
clean by means of more than 1200 miles of sewers for which they 
had paid nearly 35 milhons of dollars, and by means of a depart- 
ment of highways and street-cleaning which employed a con- 
tractor to clean the streets and to remove all ashes and garbage 
at an annual cost of more than a million and a half dollars. 
This is all under the direction of the city government. 

What is true of our local boards of education, fire and street- 
cleaning departments, and other departments of our local 
J governments, is also true of state and national 

and national governments. We shall not stop for illustrations of 
* ^^^^ this now, because they will be numerous in later 

chapters. (See, for example, Chapter XIX.) 

Is there a government in your home? If so, prove whether or not it is 
a means by which the members of the family cooperate. 

Describe the government of your school and show how it secures co- 
operation. 

From a copy of Benjamin Franklin's Autobiography, find further instances 
in which he improved the cooperation of his community, as for fire protection 
and street lighting. 

Show how street lights represent community cooperation. For what 
purpose is this form of cooperation? 

Give additional illustrations to prove that government in your community 
is a means of cooperation. 

In what ways can you cooperate with the school board of your com- 
munity, and thus with the community itself, for better schools? 

A number of boys whose lives were spent mostly in the city 
streets were once asked what the word "government" sug- 
gested to them. Some of them at once answered, ''The police- 
man !" and when they were asked, "Why?" they replied, "He 
arrests people," "He makes us keep off the grass in the parks," 
"He drives us off when we play ball in vacant lots." These 
answers represent a common idea about government, that it is 
something over us to restrict our freedom. Government does 



WHY WE HAVE GOVERNMENT 



45 



restrict the freedom of individuals at times; but one of the 
best illustrations of its real purpose is the traffic policeman in 
cities. He stands at the crossing of busy streets, 
regulating the movement of people and vehicles to help 
in such a way as to insure the safety of all and ^"^ ^°* **^ 
to keep the intersecting streams of traffic moving 
smoothly and with as little interruption as possible. Now and 




Mounted Trafpic Policeman at Work 

"If now and then he arrests a driver, it is because the latter disregards 
the rights of others." 

then he leaves his post to help a child or an aged person or a 
cripple across the street ; or answers the inquiries of a stranger. 
If now and then he arrests a driver, it is because the latter 
disregards the rights or welfare of others. 

There may be no traffic policeman ; but there may be signs 
at the intersection of highways to guide travelers, or warnings 
such as " Dangerous Curve ! " or " School : Drive Slowly ! " Such 
signs are usually posted by state or local authorities in accord- 
ance with law. And even where there are no signs, the laws 



46 



COMMUNITY CIVICS 



simsm 



themselves are supposed to regulate traffic. Some one has com- 
pared the laws in our country to the signals given to a football 
Laws as team by the quarterback. These signals are agreed 

signals of upon in advance by the team, and tell each player 

coopera ion ^^^ ^^^y what he himself, but also what every other 
player, is to do, and thus team work is secured. And so our 

laws are said to be 
"signals of coopera- 
tion," just as much 
as the sign "Drive 
Slowly," or as when 
the traffic policeman 
holds up his hand or 
blows his whistle. 

Laws, however, are 
more than "signals" 
of cooperation; they 
are also rules by which 
cooperation is secured 
— " rules of the game." 
Wherever people are 
dependent upon one 
another and work to- 
gether there must be 
rules of conduct. One 
kind of rules consists 
of what we call "eti- 
quette" or "good 
manners." We have doubtless all observed how much better an 
athletic contest moves along, or even the ordinary sports of the 
Laws as playground, where good manners prevail. " Good 

rules of manners" include more than the "party man- 

thegame ^^^^„ ^j^^^ ^^ ^^^ ^^ ^^^ ^^-^^ off on special 

occasions, like "party clothes." They consist of the accepted 




(c) UTidencood and Underwood 

"The Signal for Cooperation in a 

City Street" 

(Trafl&c Policeman) 



WHY WE HAVE GOVERNMENT 



47 



rules of behavior toward those with whom we associate. 
In the home, in school, in business, in public places, there 
are ^'good manners" that are recognized by custom and 
that make the wheels move smoothly and without jar. We do 
not need a law or a policeman to require a man to give way 
to a woman, or even to another man, in passing through a 




"Rules of the < Game" 

The pupils of this school cooperate effectively in preventing 
accidents on this corner. 

doorway ; good manners provide for this. Even on the pubhc 
street much confusion is avoided by an observance of good 
manners, or custom. Thoughtful people instinctively turn to 
the right in passing others (in England and Canada the custom 
is to turn to the left) without thinking whether there is a law 
on the subject or not. 

Now most of our laws that regulate the conduct of indi- 
viduals are simply rules that -experience has proved to be of 
the greatest advantage to the greatest number, and that are 
necessary because some people have not "good manners." 



48 COMMUNITY CIVICS 

Most people observe them, not because they are laws, but 
because they are reasonable and helpful in avoiding friction 
Law gives and in securing cooperation. If they are good laws, 
freedom [^ jg only the "ill-mannered" who are really con- 

scious of their existence. Just laws restrict the freedom only 
of the "ill-mannered," while they give freedom to those who 
have "good manners." 

What street or. high way signs are there in your community? Who 
placed them ? Are they faithfully observed ? If not, why ? 

What signals are there in your school? Discuss their usefulness. 

What are some of the "rules" of your school? Are they good rules? 
Why? Are they an advantage or a disadvantage to yourself? If they did 
not exist, would your own conduct be dijEferent? Why? 

What are some of the rules of good manners that are supposed to control 
conduct in your school? in your home? in the street? Discuss their 
reasonableness. Do they enlarge or restrict freedom? 

Do the rules of football, or other games, increase or decrease the freedom 
of play? 

What are some of the laws that control conduct in your community? 
Would most people observe the laws you mention even if they were no 
written laws, and if there were no penalty for failing to observe them? 
Why? 

The following story illustrates the difference between law 
and custom, or "manners," and how the former may develop 
The origin out of the latter.^ There was once a boys' school 
of law located in an 8oo-acre tract of land, in the fields and 

woods of which the boys, when free from their studies, gathered 
nuts, trapped small animals, and otherwise lived much like 
primitive hunters. 

Just after midnight some morning early in October, when the first frosts 
of the season loosened the grasp of the nuts upon the limbs, parties of two 
or three boys might be seen rushing at full speed over the wet fields. When 

1 "Rudimentary Society among Boys," by John Johnson, in Johns Hopkins 
University Studies in Historical and Political Science, vol. ii (1884). The story as 
here given is reproduced from Lessons in Community and National Life, Series C, 
p. 145, U. S. Bureau of Education (Lesson C-18, "Cooperation through Law," by 
Arthur W. Dunn). 



WHY WE HAVE GOVERNMENT 49 

the swiftest party reached a walnut tree, one of the number climbed up 
rapidly, shook off half a bushel of nuts and scrambled down again. Then 
off the boys went to the next tree, where the process was repeated unless 
the tree was occupied by other boys doing likewise. Nut hunters coming 
to the tree after the first party had been there, and wishing to shake the 
tree some more, were required by custom to pile up all the nuts that lay 
under the tree. Until this was done, the unwritten law did not permit 
their shaking any more nuts on the ground. 

So far this was a custom accepted by the boys because of its 
reasonableness. But after a while, some members of this boy 
community thought to get ahead of the other members. One 
night before frost came they secretly went to the woods and 
took possession of most of the nut trees by shaking them ac- 
cording to custom. When this was discovered, some of the 
leaders of the community called a meeting of all the boys. After 
discussing the matter thoroughly, they provided against a 
repetition of the trick by making a rule (passing a law) that 
thereafter the harvesting of nuts should not begin before a fixed 
date in October. 

These boys acted very much as men have often acted under 
simple conditions of community life. The New England ''town 
meeting," for example, is precisely the same thing as the boys' 
meeting. 

We shall study the organization and methods of law-making 
in later chapters. At present we are merely noting why we 
have laws, and the fact that they are supposed xhe second 
to be made, directly or indirectly, by the people element in^ 
themselves. And right here we see the second control by 
thing necessary to make a democracy. On page *^® people 
9 we saw that in a democracy all people have certain 
equal and "unalienable" rights, and that that community 
is most democratic that affords its members most nearly 
equal opportunity to enjoy these rights. Now we see further 
that in a democracy the people make their own laws. More- 
over, the laws of a democracy control, not only the conduct of 



50 COMMUNITY CIVICS 

9 

the people, but also the government itseK. The government of 
a democracy may do only those things, and use only those 
methods, for which the people give the authority. It is only 
when government exercises power without control by the people 
that it becomes autocratic. 

The purpose of our government is clearly stated in two 
historic documents. One of these is the Declaration of Inde- 
Two historic pendence, which has already been quoted in Chap- 
documents iQj- I. The same quotation is given here with an 
additional sentence in italics : 

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, 
that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, 
that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. That, to 
secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just 
powers from the consent of the governed. . . . 

The second great document is the Constitution of the United 

States, the preamble to which reads : 

We, the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect 
union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common 
defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to 
ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution 
for the United States of America. 

It is not to be supposed that our government and our laws 
are perfect. They cannot be perfect as long as they are made 
Democracy a ^^^ operated by imperfect people. It is possible, 
goal still to for example, that the boys of the city (p. 44) had 
a just complaint against the government for not 
permitting them to play ball in vacant lots, unless the com- 
munity at the same time provided them with another suitable 
place for the game — for every community should protect the 
right of its boys and girls to play. We are far from having 
attained complete democracy. It is a goal toward which 
men are struggling, and have been struggling for centuries 
— since long before our Revolutionary War, and in other 
countries as well as in our own. The great World War which 



WHY WE HAVE GOVERNMENT 



SI 




Courtesy American Magazine of Art 
Thomas Jefferson 

Author of the Declaration of Independence 
Statue at the University of Virginia. By Karl Bitter 

began in 1914, and which the United States entered in 191 7, 
was a war to estabhsh more firmly in the world the principles 
of democratic government. Whether these principles shall be 
carried out in practice, and whether our governments — ■ local, 
state, and national — shall fulfill the purposes so clearly stated 



52 COMMUNITY CIVICS 

in the preamble to the Constitution, depends upon the extent 
to which each citizen understands these purposes, and cooper- 
ates with his fellow- citizens and with his government in support 
of them. 

It is said that in one of the training camps during the war 
The " right an officer addressed a squad of new recruits as 
idea of it" follows: 

Boys, I want you to get the right idea of the salute. I do not want you 
to think that you are being compelled to salute me as an individual. No ! 
When you salute me, you are simply rendering respect to the power I repre- 
sent; and the power I represent is you. l^Iow let me explain. You elect 
the President of the United States, and the President of the United States 
grants me a commission to represent his authority in this army. His only 
authority is the authority that you vest in him when you elect him President. 
Now, when you salute an officer, you salute not the man, but the representa- 
tive of your own authority. The salute is going to be rigidly enforced in 
this army, and I want you boys to get the right idea of it. I want you to 
know what you salute and why. 

It is very important that we should "get the right idea" of 
what our government is. It is very much the idea that the 
officer gave his soldiers about the salute. It is the idea con- 
tained in this chapter : that government is our own organiza- 
tion for team work in community life. All through this book 
we shall be engaged in discovering how far this is true. 

Do you know of instances in which the national government has helped 
to secure cooperation among business men of your city? 

Discuss the post office as a means of cooperation. 

During the war with Germany the United States government assumed 
control of all the railroads of the country. Show how this was to secure 
better cooperation. 

Is the government of your school democratic ? Explain your answer. 
Do you think it should be made more democratic? Why? 

Compare the purposes stated in the preamble to the Constitution with 
the common purposes stated on pages 2-6 of Chapter I. 

Show how the pupil who does as he pleases in school may interfere with 
the rights and liberties of other pupils. Is it right that his liberty should 
then be restricted? Why? Is liberty the right to do as one pleases? 
If not, what is it? 



WHY WE HAVE GOVERNMENT 53 

Read together in class the preamble to the Constitution and carefully 
discuss the meaning of each phrase. 

Just what is the meaning of the last sentence of the paragraph from the 
Declaration of Independence quoted on page 50? 

READINGS 

Lessons in Community and National Life: 

Series B : Lesson 17, The development of a system of laws. 

Series C : Lesson 17, Custom as a basis for law. 
Lesson 18, Cooperation through law. 
In Long's American Patriotic Prose: 

Lincoln, "Mob Law," pp. 175-177. 

Lincoln, "Back to the Declaration," pp. 179-181. 

McKinley, "Liberty is Responsibility, Not License," pp. 254-255. 

The Declaration of Independence, pp. 67-71. 
Beard, Chas. A., American Citizenship, chap, i ("The Nature of Modern Govern-' 

ment"). 
Franklin, Benjamin, Autobiography. 



CHAPTER V 
WHAT IS CITIZENSHIP? 

Before we go further, let us get a definite idea of what it 
means to be a citizen. 

We have frequently referred to the fact that we are "mem- 
bers" of communities. There are two important facts about a 

^ru 4. " member " which will help us to understand citizen- 

Wnat mem- ^ 

bership ship. Our bodies have members ; the tongue has 

means been called an "unruly" member, "a little member 

and boasteth great things." ^ Now, one important fact about 
a member of the body is that it gets its life from the body. The 
hand, for example, quickly ceases to be a hand if it is cut off, 
because it is severed from the source of life; and 
if the body is seriously ill, the hand and the other 
members are unable to perform their proper work. 

The second important fact about a member is that it is essential 
to the life of the body. If the hand is cut off, or an eye put 
out, the body does not necessarily die, but it is seriously handi- 
capped. If a member is paralyzed or diseased it may be a 
positive hindrance to the body, and the disease may spread to 
other members. The body may suffer merely because its 
members are poorly trained. 

This, then, is what membership in the body means. Member- 
ship in a family, or in a class, or in a school, or in a club, or in a 
In the community, means just the same thing. The two 

community facts mentioned above are as true in the one 
case as in the other. 

1 James iii : 5. 
54 



WHAT IS CITIZENSHIP ? 



55 



Explain how the idea of membership as applied to the body applies to 
your membership in the family; to membership in a club; in a church; 
in a business establishment. 

Can you be a member of your class or school without doing it either good 
or harm? Explain your answer. 

Read Romans xii : 4-8 and James iii : 5-8. 

Show how an injury or a benefit to one pupil in the school may be an 
injury or a benefit to the entire schooL Give illustrations to prove this. 




Citizens in Training 

"7 pledge allegiance to my Flag and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation, 
indivisible, with liberty and justice for all." 

Show how this idea of membership corresponds with the idea of inter- 
dependence as discussed in Chapter II. 

We have already seen, and we shall see more clearly as we go 
on with our study, how completely we are dependent upon our 
communities for the wants of life. The community that does 
not provide for its members in these things is like a sick body. 
On the other hand, as members of a community we are always 
contributing som^ething to its life — either to its advantage or 



56 COMMUNITY CIVICS 

disadvantage. Of course, each of us is only one of a great many 
members in a large community, and we may seem to be very 
unimportant. But each performs his part, whether it be great 
or small, and whether he does it well or poorly. 

Now we often speak of members of a community as citizens 
of that community. Citizenship means practically the same 
-,. . J. thing as membership in the community. As a 
means good community is one that provides well for its 

membership members, so the good citizen is the member who 
does well his part in the life of the community. A bad citizen 
is the member who hinders the progress of the community 
when he might be helping. 

There are citizens who are like the diseased or paralyzed hand, 
or like the hand that is untrained. A member of an athletic 
T * d and team who does not "train" will probably be 
untrained dropped from the team — he fails to become an 
citizens athlete. But a member of a community, or a 

citizen, who does not "train" still remains a member, but an 
inefficient one. He is a handicap to his community and inter- 
feres with community team work. The part that a member 
plays in community life may be more important than he realizes. 
Even in small things, "the falling short of one may mean 
disaster to many." Each member of a community, like each 
member of a body, must be not only in a healthy condition but 
also well trained. 

The most important element in good citizenship, or in 
patriotism, is the spirit of service, — service for the common 
The spirit good. Patriotism usually suggests a willingness 
of service ^^q gjye life, or to make other great sacrifice, for the 
country's good. It does involve this at times. But it is equally 
true that even our normal, everyday, community life is based on an 
exchange of services, just as the hand serves the eye, and the eye 
serves the hand, and both together serve the entire body and 
all its other members. Even earning a living means earning 



WHAT IS CITIZENSHIP? 



57 



the services of other people by the performance of services for 
them (see Chapter XVI). The patriotic citizen is one whose 
conduct at all times is controlled by the thought of the service 
he may render rather than by the thought of selfish advantage. 
At the same time, we need to be ''infected with wisdom to 




An Exchange of Service 

know that in making smooth the way of all lies the road to our 
own health and happiness." ^ 

Citizenship involves certain rights and certain duties. We 
might give a long hst of the duties of the citizen. Among other 
things we might say that it is his duty to obey the j^jgi^^g ^^d 
laws, and to defend his country in time of peril. It duties of 
is a citizen's duty to vote (when he has the right to 
do so), to pay taxes, to hold office, and to serve on the jury when 
called upon to do so. But the whole matter may be summed up 

1 John Galsworthy, in Atlantic Monthly, February, 1920. 



58 COMMUNITY CIVICS 

in the statement that the citizen's duty is always to render the 
full measure of service that his membership in the community 
demands at any given time. 

We may say, also, that a citizen has duties because he has 
rights. That is, it is his duty to serve because he is served. 
A citizen's rights are classified under two heads : 
ng s ^^.^^^ rights and political rights, or private rights and 
public rights. Under the head of civil or private rights are in- 
cluded the right to security of the person ; the right to freedom 
of religious belief and worship ; the right to freedom of speech ; 
the right to assemble freely; the right to a speedy and fair 
trial when brought before a court on charges of any kind ; and 
the right to security in his own property. These rights are 
guaranteed by the Constitution of the United States and by the 
constitutions of the several states, and are summed up in the 
phrase ''life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." They are 
embraced in the list of rights, purposes, or wants, described in 
Chapter I. 

Political rights, on the other hand, are rights given to the 
citizen by the community under certain conditions. Such are 
Political the right to vote and the right to hold ofhce. These 

rights rights (and duties) will be discussed later in our 

course, but they are rights not possessed by all citizens. 

Citizenship is acquired in two ways which are specified in the 
Constitution of the United States (Amendment XIV, Section 
H citizen- ^^ ' " All persons born or naturalized in the United 
ship is States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof" (that 

acquire j^^ subject to its laws) ''are citizens of the United 

States and of the State wherein they reside." " Naturalization " 
is the legal process by which persons of foreign birth renounce 
their allegiance to the land of their birth and pledge allegiance 
to our government. Until they do this such persons, even 
though living in our country, are still considered as "members" 
of the country from which they came, and therefore as owing 



WHAT IS CITIZENSHIP? 



59 



certain duties to that country which would be inconsistent with 
their duties as members of our nation. Therefore, they are 
denied certain political rights, such as voting and holding ofhce/ 
until they have been naturalized. Our country is, however, 
very generous to aliens (persons of foreign birth who have not 




Aliens Applying for Naturalization 



been naturalized), so that they are permitted to enjoy almost all 
the civil rights of native-born Americans. This fact imposes 
upon such persons an obligation, not merely to respect our laws, 
but also to conduct themselves with full regard for the interests 
of our nation, in all respects as if they were citizens. They are 
like guests in our home, of whom we should think very poorly 
if they abused the hospitality freely bestowed upon them. 

* In a few states even unnaturalized persons are permitted to vote after they have 
"declared their intention" of becoming citizens. 



6o 



COMMUNITY CIVICS 



Let us note particularly, however, that ^^ all persons horn in 
the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof are 
Present citizens." Native-born citizens are denied political 

citizenship rights until they reach maturity. But they can- 
not be denied their citizenship. Young citizens need to keep in 




Adult Foreigners Preparing eor American Citizenship 

Note the Service Flag of this class 



mind the fact of their present citizenship — a fact that is too often 
overlooked. Civic education is not merely training for citizen- 
ship sometime in the future, but training in citizenship now. 

Make a list of things you have done during the week for the benefit of 
your school; for the welfare of your neighborhood, or city. Do you do as 
much for your family, school, or community as they do for you ? 

Turn to Amendment XIV of the Constitution of the United States 
(page 488), and read the entire first section containing the definition of a 
citizen. Discuss the meaning of the section. 

At what age does the native-born citizen acquire the right to vote ? Why 
is he not allowed to vote before that time? 



WHAT IS CITIZENSHIP? 



6i 



What native-born citizens of the United States do not have the right to 
vote even after they are of voting age ? 

Look up the procedure of naturalization (see Readings below). 

What is the reason for the provision that a foreigner must have lived in 
this country for at least five years before he may receive his final natural- 
ization papers? 




Committee on Safety in Session 

"Civic education is not merely training /or citizenship, but training 
in citizenship now." 



READINGS 

In Long's American Patriotic Prose: 

Doane, "The Men to Make a State," pp. 236-238, 

Lane, "Makers of the Flag," pp. 314-316. 

Steiner, "On Becoming an American Citizen," pp. 317-320. 

Wilson, "To Newly-Made Citizens," pp. 322-326. 

Tufts, James H., The Real Business of Living, chaps, xi, xii. 

Write to the Bureau of Naturalization, U. S. Department of Labor, for publi- 
cations relating to Naturalization, 



CHAPTER VI 
WHAT IS OUR COMMUNITY? 

We have frequently referred to "our community." As a 
matter of fact, each of us is a member of a number of communi- 
Elements ^^^^' Every community consists, of course, of a 

that make group of people occupying a more or less definite 
a communi y iQ^diHy^ Much depends, in community life, upon 
the number and character of the people and the extent and 
nature of the locality they occupy. But the essential thing 
about a community is that the people who comprise it are 
working together (cooperating) under an organization (govern- 
ment) for the common good (common purposes). 

The community may be a city, with a large population in 
proportion to the area occupied. It may be a community 
Large and ^^ which a relatively small population is distrib- 
smaii com- uted Over an extensive territory. Each state in 
mum le ^^^ Union is a community, and so is the nation 

itself, because each is composed of a group of people (very large 
in these cases), occupying a definite territory (also large), and 
having a government through which the people are working for 
common ends. We even speak of a "world community," 
although it is, as yet, very imperfect (see Chapter VIII). It is 
clear that each of us is a member, not only of our city community, 
but also of state, national, and world communities. It is 
clear, also, that the larger communities are made up of many 
smaller communities. 

Does your class have the characteristics of a community? Your school? 
Note how the class communities are combined into the larger school com- 
munity. Compare with the union of our states in the nation. 

62 




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64 COMMUNITY CIVICS 

Does your home have the characteristics of a community? Explain in 
detail. 

What are some of the things in which your family and your nearest 
neighbors have a common interest because of living close together? What 
does the "neighborhood" lack to make it a complete "community"? 

How smaller communities are merged into larger ones may be 
illustrated by the case of New York City. That city is com- 
posed of five "boroughs" — Manhattan, Bronx, 
munities " Brooklyn, Queens, and Richmond. Each of these 
merge into has a government for certain local purposes, but all 
are united under a single government for the City of 
Greater New York. Moreover, New York City has adjoining 
it a number of other cities, such as Newark, N.J., and Yonkers, 
N.Y., all of which have their own governments, but which 
taken together constitute a "metropolitan area" which possesses 
many, at least, of the characteristics of a community. A large 
part of the population whose business interests are in New York 
City lives in these adjacent "suburbs." 

Detroit, Michigan, affords another striking example. This 
city has grown with great rapidity in the last few years, and in 
1920 its population of nearly a million has entirely surrounded 
that of two other cities (Highland Park and Hamtramck). 
While these two communities still have independent govern- 
ments, they are to all intents and purposes a part of Detroit, 
and will sooner or later, in all probability, be merged with it 
under one government. 

Every large city has its "suburbs." Sometimes these are 
purely residential, their residents having their business interests 
Suburban in the city. Sometimes they are industrial centers 
communities with very few homes except those of employees of 
the factories. In some cases they are within the city limits, 
while in other cases they are outside and independently governed. 
But while a suburb may be a community in itself, with interests 
of its own, it is also bound to the city by certain common 



WHAT IS OUR COMMUNITY? 65 

interests, and as city and suburbs grow, the tendency is for the 
latter to be absorbed by the former under a single government. 

With the help of a map of your city, study the location of its "suburbs," 
naming each. 

Which, if any, of these suburbs have their own governments, and which 
come under the government of the city? 

Find out whether any parts of your city, now under the city government, 
once had independent governments. If so, what reasons led to their in- 
corporation in the city? 

If there has recently been a proposal to extend the limits of your city to 
include hitherto independent suburbs, what arguments were made for and 
against the proposal? 

If you live in a community adjacent to a city, but independent of its 
government, debate the question, "Resolved, that our community (naming 
it) should be incorporated in the city of . . . (naming the adjacent city)." 

To what extent, if any, has the increase in the population of your city in 
recent years been due to the extension of the city Hmits to include adjacent 
suburbs? On a map of the city show the old and new city Hmits. 

What is the population of your city (census of 1920) ? Compare with the 
population of 1910 and 1900. 

If a city business man has his home in a suburban community, what are 
some of the things pertaining to the welfare of that community in which he 
would have a special interest ? What are some of the things pertaining to 
the welfare of the entire city in which he would be interested? 

In the case of such a suburban family, which would be likely to have the 
keenest interest in the affairs of the suburb, the father or the mother ? Why ? 
Where would the chief interests of the children be, in the suburb or in the 
city as a whole? Why? 

If some of the children of the suburban home go to school in the city, 
in what things would they have an interest in common with the residents of 
the city? 

If you live in a suburban community, make a list of things in which it is 
especially interested. Also make a list of things in which your suburban 
community is interested in common with the people of other suburbs. 

If we leave our city by railroad or automobile, we soon find 
ourselves passing through other, smaller communities — first, 
suburban communities, then rural communities, with much 
open country, and an occasional village or small town. Such 
communities seem to be no part of the city which we have left 



66 



COMMUNITY CIVICS 



behind, and to a large extent they do have interests pecuUar 
to themselves, centering largely around farming activities and 
a social life quite different from that of the city 
folk. But in many ways the city and the sur- 
rounding country, with its numerous rural com- 
munities and small towns, are bound together into 
a single community with large common interests 
and purposes. City resident and farmer alike are members of 



Interde- 
pendence 
of city 
and rural 
communities 




Public Faemers' Market 
City residents and farmers alike are members of this community 



this community, and neither can afford to forget his dependence 
upon, and his interest in, the other. 

In the early days of western settlement a community was 
founded in Illinois. It was an agricultural community, but in 
the midst of it a village grew, which in the course of time became 
a small city. One of the first settlers was a young farmer with 



WHAT IS OUR COMMUNITY? 67 

a mechanical turn of mind. He began experimenting to im- 
prove the methods of planting grain. The result was the in- 
vention of a corn planter, the manufacture of which became one 
of the chief industries of the growing city, employing hundreds of 
men and sending machines to all parts of the world. Another 
young farmer invented a better plow than those which had been 
in use, the manufacture of which became another of the city's 
industries. In those pioneer days each family usually made its 
own brooms, but one young man in this community earned his 
way through the local college by making brooms from corn 
raised on the college farm. The college cornfield disappeared 
in the course of time, but on one part of it there grew up a broom 
factory employing a large number of workmen. These city 
industries were thus literally "children of the soil," and the 
city's prosperity depended upon the agriculture of the surround- 
ing region. On the other hand, the city provided the farmers 
with improved plows and corn planters, furnished them an 
immediate market for their products, supplied them with goods 
through its shops and stores, and gave education to hundreds 
of farmers' children in its schools and college. It is now a city 
of 25,000 population, but it is still the heart of the surrounding 
agricultural region, receiving from and giving to the life of the 
larger community so created. 

A study of the accompanying map of Dane County, Wisconsin, 
will help to emphasize this idea. The most conspicuous thing 
in the map is the heavy black lines which divide j^^^^g County 
the county into irregular areas. These are " trade Wis., an 
areas," in each of which is a "trading center," 
consisting of a village or small town. Each of these "trade 
areas" is an incompletely developed "rural community," 
with a village or town community at its center. If the " trading 
center" is also a center of education, recreation, social and 
religious life for the area, as is likely to be the case, the "rural 
community" is more completely developed. 



6S 



COMMUNITY CIVICS 



It will be noticed that the irregular boundary lines of the trade areas 
"cut across" the regular "township" boundary lines, which the map also 
shows, and even across the county lines. Township and county are govern- 
mental districts (see Chapter XXV) which were fixed before population was 
very great, and do not always coincide with the areas of population which rep- 
resent the closest common interests. That is, a farmer's family, represented 
by one of the small dots on the map, is bound by ties of government to all 
the other people in his township, while his real interests, such as in trade, 




Public Highways ; 
F'arm Home 

nAILWAV — 



: HiCM School 
Trade Area Boundaries 



Ce^LccE OF .^X.cnicui.TVRE 
MAOisoit, Wis. 



The City of Madison and Dane County, Wisconsin 



education for his children, social life, etc., may bind him to people who live in 
other townships, while they fail to bind him closely to all the people in his 
own township. This merely illustrates the imperfections still to be found in 
our community life (see page 2) . Where townships have natural boundaries, 
they are likely to be more nearly complete communities. 

In the center of Dane County is the city of Madison with a 
population of nearly 40,000. It also is a 'trading "center" in a 
"trade area." Moreover, it is the county seat of Dane County, 



WHAT IS OUR COMMUNITY? 



69 



and the capital of the state of Wisconsin. An examination of 
the map will show roads and railroads centering in the city 
from all parts of the county and state. 

Thus even a large city may have decided rural interests and 
be part of a larger community that is distinctly rural in its 
foundations. A business man of Memphis, Tenn. ^j^^ „ j^^ 
(pop. 162,000), said, ''Memphis cannot build a wall phis Terri- 
around herself and live for thirty days," so inti- *°^^ 
mately is the life of the city interwoven with the life of the 
surrounding region, known as the ''Memphis Territory." 




Wichita Falls, Texas 
This city grew from a population of 8500 in 1910 to a population of 45,000 in 1920 



It too often happens that the interdependence between urban 
and rural communities, and the resulting community of in- 
terests between them, are overlooked both by urban failure to see 
and rural citizens. Sometimes jealousies and an- common 
tagonisms arise to the injury of all concerned. ^^^^'^^^^^ 

How much better is a situation like that said to exist in Chris- 
tian County, Ky. This county is almost wholly agricultural, 



70 COMMUNITY CIVICS 

but the county seat is a small city of 10,000 population. A busi- 
ness men's association was organized in the city, which inter- 
A oco nf ested itseh in bettering the agricultural conditions 

county of the county, because the business of the city was 

coopera ion ^^^^ dependent upon the neighboring agriculture. 
A ^'crop improvement association" was formed, including 
farmers in its membership. Local community clubs were organ- 
ized in different parts of the county, which held meetings 
attended by the farmers and their families, and by business men 
from the city. A good roads association was organized, and a 
''good roads day" was held on which 

business men turned out with the farmers, stores of the city were closed, and 
on one of the principal roads at least 90 per cent of the workmen were city 
men. Stone was contributed by contractors, concrete firms furnished men 
gratis to repair bridges, one company supplied outfits for trimming trees 
and a large amount of work was done by the county and town working side 
by side. . . . Such results could only be accomplished through unity of 
purpose and cooperation of all the people. 

It is said of this county that " the town and the county are one. 
The result is better agriculture, better business, and better 
living." 

On a map roughly outline the area of which your city is a "trade center." 
Does this require a map of your county, of your state, or of a larger region? 

For what area is New York City a trade center? Chicago? New 
Orleans? San Francisco? London? 

Mention some of the ways in which your city is dependent upon nearby 
rural communities. Also some ways in which these rural communities are 
dependent upon your city. 

To what extent is there team work between your city and neighboring 
rural communities or smaller cities? Is there any noticeable lack of such 
team work? If so, what are the causes? 

What industries in your city are dependent upon the surrounding region 
for their raw material? For the sale of their products? 

Has farm land in your vicinity increased or decreased in value since your 
father was a boy? Has there been any considerable increase or decrease 
since you can remember? Can you show a relation between this change 
in value of farm land and the growth of your city? 



72 COMMUNITY CIVICS 

What is the cotton gin? The spinning jenny? Show how these inven- 
tions were a benefit to agriculture. How did they promote the growth of 
cities ? 

As cities and towns and rural communities are welded together 
into a community we call the county, so all those of a number of 
State com- counties constitute a state community of which 
munities q^q\^ gf ^s is a member. As parts of the larger 

state community, all of the smaller local communities, whether 
urban or rural, are closely dependent upon one another, and 
require organized cooperation through a state government. The 
state is the most completely self-governing of all the communi- 
ties of which we are members, as will be explained in another 
chapter (XXVII). The people of a state have strong common 
interests, and as a rule feel a pride in their state, and a loyalty 
to it, that lie deeper than their pride in, or their loyalty to, any 
of the smaller communities of which they are members. And 
yet, no state can be in a thriving condition unless the cities and 
rural communities, the counties and townships, which comprise 
it are also thriving and wholesome in every particular. The 
fact is sometimes overlooked that the first and most effective 
way in which to show loyalty to the state is to take pride in, and 
be loyal to, the smaller communities which comprise it and of 
which all citizens of the state are members. Much of the 
service that the state performs for its citizens, and much of that 
which they perform for the state, is performed through the 
organization of the local communities, as will be explained rAore 
fully in another place. 

What are some of the interests common to all the people of your state 
for which they need to co5perate? 

Have you noticed that the people in your community have a strong 
"state pride"? If so, what are the things of which they are proud? 

Discuss the statement in the last paragraph that "the most effective way 
in which to show loyalty to the state is to be loyal to the smaller community" 
of which you are a member. 

If there is a very large city in your state, show its importance to the whole 
state. Show its dependence upon the whole state. 



WHAT IS OUR COMMUNITY? -73 

Can a state extend its boundaries as a city can? Why? 
What is the capital of your state? What does "capital" mean? 
The forty-eight states of our Union, together with Alaska 
and our insular territories and dependencies, constitute our great 
national community. So important is it for us to our national 
recognize the community characteristics of our community 
nation that the entire next chapter is devoted to its consideration. 
The problems of community life presented by the city we live 
in are not merely local problems, but of national importance. 
The city population of the United States has The city 
increased with great rapidity in the last few years. ^J^^^^^g 
The number of cities with a population of more of national 
than 10,000 has increased from 328 in 1900 to 759 concern 
in 1920, while the population of such cities about doubled in the 
same period. In 1920, there were 68 cities of more than 100,000 
population, as compared with 44 in 1910 and 34 in 1900; and 
in such cities lived approximately one fourth of the population 
of the United States in 1920. The aggregation of so large a part 
of our total population in cities has created problems of health, 
of education, of industry, of transportation, of every phase of 
hfe, that affect the entire nation. 

Moreover, the growth of city population has brought new 
problems to the rural portions of the nation. A considerable 
part of the increase in city population has come from the rural 
districts. While the rural population has increased also, the 
city population has increased more rapidly. One result of this 
is that not only are there more people in the cities for whom food 
must be produced in the country, but there are also relatively 
fewer food producers to do the work. In many other ways, 
some of which we shall note from time to time, the growth of 
cities affects the life of rural America. 

What proportion of the population of your state lives in cities ot 10,000 
or more? How many such cities are there in your state? What has been 
the increase in the number and population of such cities in your state since 
1900? 



74 COMMUNITY CIVICS 

In the Literary Digest of September i8, 1920, there is an article under the 
title "Doubtful Good of our City Growth." From what is said in the para- 
graphs above, to what may this article refer? If possible, read the article. 

If your city has grown rapidly during the last few years, in what ways 
has this growth made life more difi&cult ? Can you see ways in which the new 
problems -arising from this growth might affect the nation? 

READINGS 

Dunn, Arthur W., The Community and the Citizen, chaps, i-iii. 

Galpin, C. J., "The Social Anatomy of an Agricultural Community," Research 

Bulletin 34, Agricultural Experiment Station, University of Wisconsin, Madison, 

Wis. 
Gillette, John M., Constructive Rural Sociology (Sturgis & Walton Co., New York), 

chap, iv ("Types of Communities"). 
Small and Vincent, An Introduction to the Study of Society (American Book Co.), 

Book II, chaps, i-iv. 
Wilcox, D. F., The American City (Macmillan), chap. i. 
Beard, Chas. F., American City Government (Century Co.), chap. i. 
United States Census Reports, 1920. 



CHAPTER VII 

OUR NATIONAL COMMUNITY 

It is important to get the habit of thinking of our nation as 
a community, just as we think of our school or town or city 
as one. This is not always easy to do because of j ... 
its huge size and complicated character. It would of our 
be wrong, too, to get the idea that it is a perfect community 
community — none of our communities is perfect. 
Conflicts of interest are often more apparent than community 
of interest. Team work among the different parts and groups 
that make up our nation is often very poor. Although our 
government is a wonderfully good one, it is still only an im- 
perfect means of cooperation. Our nation is far from being a 
complete democracy, for there are many people in it who do 
not have the full enjoyment of life, liberty, and the pursuit of 
happiness; and large numbers of our "self-governing" people 
really have little or no part in government. 

It need not give us an unpatriotic feeling to acknowledge the 
imperfections of our nation or of our government; for com- 
munities grow, not only in size, but also in ability Loyalty 
to perform their proper work, just as individuals *® ideals 
do. We call a person conceited who thinks that he is perfect, 
especially if he boasts of it. But his conceit is itself an imper- 
fection and a hindrance to growth. So the patriotic citizen is 
not one who is unable to see defects in his community, or who 
refuses to acknowledge them, but one who has high civic ideals 
and is loyal to them, who understands in what respects these 
ideals have not been reached, and who, as a member of the 

75 



76 



COMMUNITY CIVICS 



community (see page 54) , contributes everything he can to keep 
it growing in the right direction. 

*'The problem of government is after, all the problem of human growth. 
. . . The one constant and inconstant quantity with which man must 
deal is man — changing, inert, impulsive, limited, sympathetic, selfish, 
aspiring man. His institutions, whether social or political, must come out 




A View or Our National Capital 

of his wants and out of his capacities. Luther Burbank has not yet made 
grapes to grow on thorns or figs on thistles. Neither has any system of 
government made all men wise. ..." — Franklin K. Lane. 

Is it possible for a community to be 100 per cent perfect? Why? 

What people in your community have no part in government? 

May people who cannot vote have any influence upon government? 
Explain. 

Has a good citizen a right to criticize his government? What is the 
difference between helpful and harmful criticism? 

What is an "ideal"? a ''civic ideal"? 



OUR NATIONAL COMMUNITY 



77 



The war with Germany made it somewhat easier to think of 
our nation as a community, because it served to arouse our 
"national spirit/' and showed very clearly the -^ei^j^jj 
importance in our national life of those elements the nation 
which characterize all community life — • common ^^ ^^^ 
purpose, interdependence, and organized cooperation (see 
Chapters I-III). The creation of a National Army did much 
to bring this about. 




Immigrants from Other Lands 
Landing at Ellis Island, New York Harbor 



When the benefits which come to the nation through the creation of the 
national army are catalogued, the fact that it has welded the country into a 
homogeneous society,^ seeking the same national ends and animated by the 
same national ideals, will overtop all other advantages. The organization 
of the selected Army fuses the thousand separate elements making up the 
United States into one steelhard mass. Men of the North, South, East, 
and West meet and mingle, and on the anvil of war become citizens worthy 
of the liberty won by the first American armies.^ 

^"Homogeneous society" — a society or community all of whose parts and 
members have like purposes and interests. 

2 Major Granville R. Fortesque, in National Geographic Magazine, Dec, 1917- 



78 COMMUNITY CIVICS 

How this welding of the parts of the nation together was promoted 
by the war is suggested by the words of an old Confederate 
soldier who wrote to a friend in the North : 

"During the war between the states I was a rebel, and continued one 
in heart until this great war. But now I am a devoted follower of Uncle 
Sam and endorse him in every respect." 

The fact that our nation contained in its population large 

numbers of people from practically every country of Europe 

^. caused no Httle anxiety when we entered the 

Diverse •' 

elements in European war. Our population embraces a hun- 
our nation ^^^^ different races and nationalities. Of these 
ten million are negroes and three hundred thirty-six thousand 
Indians. Thirty- three million are of foreign parentage, and of 
these thirteen million are foreign-born. Five million do not 
speak English, and there are fifteen hundred newspapers in 
the United States printed in foreign languages. Five and 
one half million above the age of ten years, including both 
foreign and native, cannot read nor write in any language. 
New York City has a larger Hebrew population than any other 
city in the world, contains more Italians than Rome, and its 
German population is the fourth largest among the cities of 
the world. Pittsburgh has more Serbs than the capital of 
Serbia. It is said that there were more Greeks subject to draft 
in the American army than there were in the entire army of 
Greece. Would all these people be loyal to our nation, or would 
they divide it against itself? 

The war in fact showed us that there were some among us 
who had never really become "members" of our nation (see 
L alt f P^g^ 54) ' ^^^ ^^^ were dangerous to our peace and 
diverse safety. It also showed us the danger that comes 

elements ixom the presence of so many illiterates, or of those 

who cannot use the English language ; for such people, even 
though loyal in spirit to the United States, cannot understand 
instructions either in the army or in industry, and otherwise 



OUR NATIONAL COMMUNITY 



79 



prevent effective cooperation. And yet the most striking thing 
that the war showed us in regard to this mixed population is 
that the great mass of it, regardless of color or place of birth, 
is really American in spirit and loyal to our flag and the ideas 
which it represents. 




Forty-four Nationalities — All Americans 



Another weakness within our nation that the war empha- 
sized is the lack of harmony between wage earners and their 

employers. There were many sharp conflicts 

, 1 o .1 ^ 1 National 

between them. Strikes occurred, or were threat- safety 

ened, in factories, shipyards, mines, and railroads, depends on 

that blocked the wheels of industry at a time 

when the nation needed to strain every nerve to provide the 

materials of war. This lack of harmony between workmen and 

employers, which in war threatened our national safety, has 

existed for many years and has always been an obstacle to 

national progress. But the common purpose of winning the 

war caused employers and wage earners, in rnost Qases, to 



8o COMMUNITY CIVICS 

adjust their differences. In nearly every, case one side or the 
other, or both sides, yielded certain points and agreed not to 
dispute over others, at least for the period of the war. The 
national government did much to bring this about by the 
creation of labor adjustment boards to hear complaints from 
either side and to settle disputes. If our national community 
life is to develop in a wholesome way, complete cooperation 
between workmen and employers must be secured and made 
permanent on the basis of interests that are common to both. 

Such facts as these show how easy it is, in a huge, complex 
community like our nation, for conflicts to arise among different 
The effect of sections and groups of the population ; and how 
a common difficult it is always to see the common interests 
purpose ^-^^^ exist. But they also show how such conflicts 

tend to disappear when a situation arises which forces us to 
think of the common interests instead of the differences. All 
else was forgotten in the common purpose to "win the war." 
No sacrifice was too great on the part of any individual in 
order that this national purpose might be served. Everywhere 
throughout the country, in cities and in remote rural districts, 
service flags in the windows testified that the homes of the 
land were offering members that the nation and its ideals might 
live. Men, women, and even children contributed their work 
and their savings and denied themselves customary comforts 
to help win the war. The entire nation was working together 
for a common purpose. 

We have said that this common purpose was to ''win the 
war." But there were purposes that lie much deeper than 
Our national this, without which it would not have been worth 
purpose while to enter the war at all. As we saw in Chap- 

ter I, our nation is founded on a belief in the right of every- 
one to life and physical well-being ; to be secure in one's rightful 
possessions ; to freedom of thought — education, free speech, a 
free press; to freedom of religion; to happiness in pleasant 



OUR NATIONAL COMMUNITY 



8l 



surroundings and a wholesome social life ; and, above all, 
to a voice in the government which exists to protect these 
rights. It was to secure a larger freedom to enjoy these rights, 
"for ourselves first and for all others in their time," that our 
nation was solidly united against the enemy that threatened it 
from without. But it was with this same purpose that the 
War of Independence was fought, that our Constitution was 




Endeavoring to Adjust Industrial Differences 

The members of the Second Industrial Conference called after the 
war by President Wilson 

adopted, that slavery was abolished, that millions of people 
from foreign lands have come to our shores. It is this common 
purpose that makes the great mass of foreigners in our country 
Americans, ready to fight for America, if necessary even against 
the land of their birth. It is this for which the American flag 
stands at all times, whether in peace or in war. 

What proof can you give of a "national spirit" in your locality during the 
war? 



82 COMMUNITY CIVICS 

What evidence can you give to show that this national spirit is or is not 
as strong since the war closed? 

What was the "National Army"? the "National Guard"? Which of 
these organizations was most likely to develop a "national spirit"? Why? 
What good reasons can you give for the action of the government in con- 
solidating the Regular Army, the National Army, and the National Guard 
into a "United States Army"? 

What arguments can you give in favor of requiring all instruction in the 
public schools to be given in the English language? 

What arguments can you give in favor of teaching lessons in citizenship 
in foreign-language newspapers? 

What foreign nationalities are represented in your locality? 

Make a blackboard table showing the nationality of the parents and 
grandparents of each member of your class. 

Show how the Spanish-American war was fought for the same purpose 
as that mentioned on page 8i. 

Write a brief theme on "What the Flag Means to Me." 

The attempt to work together in the war made it very ap- 
parent how dependent the nation is upon all its parts, and how 
National dependent each part is upon all the others. It was 

interde- often said that "the farmers would win the war." 

pen ence ^^ other times it was said to be ships, or fuel, or 

airplanes, or railroad transportation, or trained scientists and 
technical workers. The truth is, of course, that all these things 
and many more were absolutely necessary, and that no one of 
them would have been of much value without all the others. 

It is tiue that the winning of the war depended upon the 
farmers, because they are the producers of the food and of the 
raw materials for textiles without which the nation and every 
group and person in it would have been helpless. But the 
farmer could not supply food to the nation without machinery 
for its production, and without city markets and railroads 
and ships for its distribution. Machinery could not be made, 
nor ships and locomotives built, without steel. For the manu- 
facture of steel there must be iron and fuel and tungsten and 
other materials. And for all these things there must be in- 



OUR NATIONAL COMMUNITY 



83 



ventors and skilled mechanics, and to produce these there must 
be schools. And so we could go on indefinitely to show how the 
war made us feel our interdependence. What we need to 
understand, however, is that this interdependence is characteristic 
of our national life at all times; the war only made us feel it more 
keenly. 



i 


j^^^^^^lA 










a 




MteSP^^'iiK 


lBJ!li!fi 




^^^^^^^^^Est^^^H 


|o'^ "OR^^ 


k'' ■p' :■ \' * ' -.^m 



A Part of Our New Merchant Fleet 

During the war, strange as it may seem, while we were 
devoting our national energies to the work of destruction 
incident to war, we as a nation made astonishing j^ation- 
progress in many ways other than in the art of building in 
war — in what we might call nation-building. ^^^ ^^^ 
In some ways we made progress in a year or two that under 
ordinary circumstances might have required a generation. A 
striking illustration of this is in the development of a great 
fleet of merchant ships at a rate that would have been impos- 
sible before the war. Beginning with almost nothing when the 
war began, we had, in less than two years, a merchant fleet 
larger than that of any other nation, and that in spite of the 



84 COMMUNITY CIVICS 

constant destruction of ships by the enemy. The chairman of 
the shipping board of the United States government said that 
this was because the necessities of the war made the whole nation 
see how much it depends upon ships, and caused not only ship- 
builders, but also engineers and manufacturers and business men 
and the navy department of .the government, and many others, 
to concentrate upon this problem, with the result that we dis- 
covered methods of shipbuilding, and of loading and unload- 
ing and operating ships when they were built, that will probably 
enable us to maintain permanently a merchant marine, the 
lack of which we have deplored for many years. 

In a similar way we discovered and brought into use valuable 
natural resources of whose existence we had largely been igno- 
rant and for which we had been dependent upon other nations. 
We made astonishing progress in scientific knowledge, and 
especially in the application of this knowledge to invention 
and to industrial enterprises. We developed a new interest 
in agriculture, and learned the food values of many products 
that had formerly been neglected. We were led to attack seri- 
ously the great problem of suitable housing for workmen, and 
had an important lesson in the relation between wholesome home- 
life and industrial efficiency (see Chapter IX, pages 116-120). 
Foundations were laid for the adjustment of the unfortunate 
differences that have long existed between workmen and their 
employers. The war suggested changes in our educational 
methods, some of which will doubtless become effective, to the 
great improvement of our public schools, colleges, and technical 
schools. 

We shall study some of these things more fully in later chap- 
ters. They are mentioned now to illustrate how our national 
progress was stimulated when the war forced us to see the relation 
of all these things to one another and to the accomplishment of our 
national purpose. On the other hand, failure to recognize this 
national interdependence means slow progress as a national 



OUR NATIONAL COMMUNITY 85 

community. When the war began, our nation was said to be 
'' unprepared." In so far as this was true — and it was true in 
many particulars — it was because in the: times of peace before 
the war we had not thought enough about the dependence of 
our national strength and safety upon all these factors in our 
national life working together. And so, in the times of peace 
after the war, if the purposes for which our nation fought are 




Bethlehem Steel Works, Bethlehem, Pa. 

to be fulfilled, we must continue to profit by this lesson which 
the war has taught us. 

Recall your discussion of national interdependence in connection with 
your study of Chapter II. 

Report on some of the important scientific and commercial developments 
resulting from the war; as, for example, 

The development of the commercial use of the airplane 
The development of new food supplies 
The production of fertilizer from the nitrogen of the air 
The development of new industries in the United States 
Changes in methods of farming 
What are some changes in education that are likely to result from the 
war? Are any of these taking place now? 



86 COMMUNITY CIVICS 

Show how the strike of coal miners in 1919, or a later strike, affected the 
life of the nation. 

The "working together" of all these interdependent parts 

The is the important thing. "The supreme test of 

•'supreme ^^^ nation has come," said President Wilson. 

test " of the ' 

nation "We must all speak, act, and serve together."^ 

It is not an army that we must shape and train for war ... it is a 
Nation. To this end our people must draw close in one compact front 
against a common foe. But this cannot be if each man pursues a private 
purpose. The Nation needs all men, but it needs each man, not in the field 
that will most pleasure him, but in the endeavor that will best serve the 
common good. . . . The whole Nation must be a team, in which each man 
must play the part for which he is best fitted.^ 

We had some suggestion on page 80 of how such national 
team work became a fact. "Do your bit!" was the watch- 
The nation word. It was splendid to see how personal in- 
as a team terests gave way before the desire to serve the 
nation. It is a thrilling story how the racial elements in our 
population forgot their differences of race and language and 
remembered only that they were American; how employers 
and employees laid aside their differences ; how farmers and 
business men, manufacturers and mechanics, miners and woods- 
men, inventors and teachers, women in the home and chil- 
dren in the schools, doctors and nurses, and every other class 
and group subordinated their personal interests to the one 
national purpose of winning the war in order that "the world 
might become a decent place in which to live." 

As soon as the United States entered the war Washington/ 
the nation's capital, became filled with people from all parts 
of the country who wanted to help in some way. Some were 
called there by the government ; others came to volunteer their 
services and to offer ideas that they thought useful. Many 
came as representatives of organizations — business and in- 

1 Message to the American People, April 15, 191 7. 
- Conscription Proclamation, May 18, 191 7. 



OUR NATIONAL COMMUNITY 



87 



dustrial organizations, scientific associations, civic societies. 
New committees and associations were formed, until the num- 
ber of voluntary citizen organizations eager to do "war work" 
became almost too numerous to remember. They were all an 
indication of the desire of the people to do .their part in the 
national enterprise. 




The Council of National Defense 

Those seated are the Cabinet members of the Council. They are from left to 
right, Secretaries Houston (Agriculture), Daniels (Navy), Baker .(War), Lane 
(Interior), and Wilson (Labor). 

But there followed a period of confusion. All these organ- 
izations and the people which they represented wanted to help, 
but they did not always know just what to do nor confusion 
how to do it. Each organization had its own ideas without 
which it often magnified above all others. Differ- organization 
ent organizations wanted to accomplish the same purpose, but 
wanted to do it in different ways. Often they duplicated one 



88 COMMUNITSr CIVICS 

another's efforts. A war could not be won under such condi- 
tions. But out of all this confusion there finally developed 
order, and this was because the various organizations of people 
realized that if they were to accomplish anything they must 
work in cooperation with the national government, whose 
business it was, after all, to organize the nation for united action. 
In fact, it was for this reason that they came to Washington. 
Many of them sought to influence the government to adopt this 
or that plan, and sometimes succeeded ; but it was the govern- 
ment that finally decided what plans were to be adopted, and all 
of the effort of the numerous organizations and of individuals 
must be brought into harmony with these. 

The period of the war afforded many striking examples of 
national cooperation secured by the government. It may have 

-^ ,. , seemed sometimes that our government interfered 

National . ° 

team work with personal freedom to an unreasonable extent, 

through g^g when it limited the amount of coal we could 

government 

buy, fixed the prices of many articles, determined 

the wages that should be paid for labor, took over the manage- 
ment of the railroads and of the telegraph and telephone lines, 
and did many other things that it never had done in time of 
peace. We expected government to exercise powers in war 
time that it would not be permitted to exercise in time of peace. 
But it can be shown that even during the war the government, 
with ail its unusual powers, did not "ride rough-shod" over the 
people, but sought to "make them partners in an enterprise 
which after all was their own." The nation was fighting for 
its life and for the very principles upon which it was founded, 
and it was necessary that cooperation should be complete and 
effective. This was what the government sought, and it exer- 
cised its powers by inviting and obtaining national cooperation 
to a remarkable extent. 

Our national army was created by a ''selective" draft, or con- 
scription. Conscription had formerly been looked upon with 



OUR NATIONAL COMMUNITY 89 

disfavor as a form of forced military service. A volunteer 

army was thought to be more in harmony with a demoratic 

form of government. But the draft is now seen to 

, . , 1 ^ , The selective 

be far more democratic than a volunteer army be- ^^.^ft as an 

cause it treats all able-bodied men alike, instead illustration 

_ , . , , .of team work 

of leavmg the fighting to those who are most 

courageous and most patriotic while those who are inclined to 
shirk may easily do so. Moreover, the selective draft means 
the selection of men to serve in the capacity for which they 
are best fitted. In Great Britain, under a volunteer system, and 
in France, under a system of compulsory military service for all 
men, thousands of brave men went to the trenches in the early 
days of the war who, because of their training, should have been 
kept at home to perform the vast amount of skilled labor and 
scientific work which this war demanded. War industry, with- 
out which there could be no fighting, was thus greatly hampered. 

By our selective draft, on the other hand, while every man was 
expected to do his share, each was selected as far as possible to 
do the thing which he could do best and therefore which would 
best serve the country. It also sought to prevent those who 
had families dependent upon them from going to war until 
they were absolutely needed. Thus the selective draft is an 
example of government organizing our national man-power for 
more effective team work and with less hardship than if it had 
been left to voluntary action. 

The United States Food Administration was created by the 
President to carry out the provisions of a law passed by Con- 
gress "to provide further for the national security ^^ 
and defense by encouraging the production, con- through the 

serving the supply, and controlling the distribu- ^o?^. ^<^- . 

^ r-x- ./ 7 1 TA • 1 ministration 

tion of food products and fuel." The President 
placed at its head a man in whom the people of the country 
had great confidence because of his experience and success in 
organizing and managing the Belgian relief work, Mr. Herbert 



QO COMMUNITY CIVICS 

Hoover. He gathered around him men f amihar with the problems 
relating to the food supply of the nation, and then proceeded to 
enlighten the country in regard to the nature of these problems 
and to seek for the cooperation of the people in solving them. 

As soon as he was appointed, the food administrator issued a 
statement containing the following facts : 

Whereas we exported before the war but 80,000,000 bushels of wheat per 
annum, this year we must find for all our allies 225,000,000 bushels, and this 
in the face of a short crop, , . . France and Italy formerly produced their 
own sugar, while England and Ireland imported largely from Germany. 
Owing to the inability of the first-named to produce more than one third 
of their needs, and the necessity for the others to import from other markets, 
they must all come to the West Indies for their very large supplies, and 
therefore deplete our resources. 

If we can reduce our consumption of wheat flour by i pound, our meat 
by 7 ounces, our sugar by 7 ounces, our fat by 7 ounces per person per week, 
these quantities multiplied by 100,000,000 (the population of the United 
States) will immeasurably aid and encourage our allies, help our own grow- 
ing armies, and so effectively serve the great and noble cause of humanity 
in which our nation has embarked. 

This illustrates how the Food Administration sought coopera- 
tion. It "made partners" of the people, explained to them 
Democracy a the situation, and asked them to help as individuals, 
partnership jj- showed the nation what it must do if it were to be 
successful in its undertaking. It is true that the President had 
large powers to enforce observance of the rules outlined by the 
Food Administration, but it was only in the exceptional case of 
the individual consumer and producer who refused to cooperate 
for the common good that it became necessary to use the power. 
The method of democracy is to point out clearly how the de- 
sired result may be obtained and to depend upon the people to 
govern themselves accordingly. 

After a year of the war a member of the Food Administration 
is quoted as saying,^ "There's never been anything like it in 

1 In an article on "Your Wheatless Days," by W. A. Wolff, in Collier's Weekly, 
Aug. 17, 1918. 



OUR NATIONAL COMMUNITY 9 1 

history. . . . We asked the American people to do voluntarily 
more than any other people has ever been asked to do under 
compulsion. And the American people made good!" 

What was true in the unusual time of war is true to even a 
greater extent in the ordinary time of peace. We have little to 
fear from our national government as long as we and those to 
whom we intrust its management always keep in mind its real 
purpose, which is to show us how to work together effectively 
as a nation and to help us to do it. 

All through this study we are going to observe how in the 
ordinary affairs of Hfe our national government serves us in 
this respect. One thing that we need especially Every man 
to learn is that we have a great national purpose co^^nts 
all the time, in peace as well as in war. In fact, peace is a part 
of that purpose. We went to war because without it there could 
be no assurance of a lasting peace. While we fought to defend 
our national purpose and our national ideals against a powerful 
foe from without, this purpose and these ideals cannot be fully 
achieved by the war alone. They can be finally achieved only 
by ourselves as we develop, day by day, our national community 
life. To do this we must always keep in mind our great national 
purpose, we must realize our dependence upon one another in 
achieving this purpose, and we must make our national team 
work as perfect as it can be made. Above all, we must realize 
that, in peace as in war, every man counts in our national com- 
munity life. As President Wilson said : 

" The Nation needs all men, but it needs each man. . . . 
^^The whole Nation must he a team, in which each man shall 
play the part for which he is best fitted." 

Read and discuss President Wilson's "Message to the American People" 
of April 15, 191 7. 

"What organizations existed in your community to secure team work for 
war purposes? 

Show how the Junior Red Cross, or the School Garden Army, made 



92 COMMUNITY CIVICS 

cooperation of young citizens possible on a national scale. Is this true in 
peace times as well as in war time? 

Is there greater or less need of national team work to-day than during 
the war? Explain your answer. 

What evidences are there that the team work of our n tion has not been 
as good since the war as during the war? Why is this? 

Show how universal military training might increase the national spirit. 
What arguments can you give against it? 

Should or should not the food administration of war time be continued in 
peace time? Why? 

What does it mean to you to be an American? 

READINGS 

In Long's American Patriotic Prose: 

Van Dyke, "The Blending of Races," p. 4. 

De Crevecoeur, "The American," p. 38. 

Webster, "Imaginary Speech of John Adams," p. 77. 

Brooks, "The Fourth of July in Westminster Abbey," p. 89. 

Van Dyke, "The Americanism of Washington," pp. 135-137. 

Jay, "Unity as a Protection against Foreign Force and Influence," p. 139. 

Webster, "Liberty and Union Inseparable," p. 158. 

Lincoln, "Gettysburg Speech," p. 181. 

Lincoln, "Second Inaugural Address," p. 183. 

Whitman, "Two Brothers, One North, One South," p. 201. 

Wilson, "Spirit of America," p. 266. 

Roosevelt, "True Americanism," p. 270. 

Wilson, "Conscription Proclamation," p. 283. 

Hughes, "What the Flag Means," p. 288. 

Eliot, "Five American Contributions to Civilization," p. 310. 

Lane, "Makers of the Flag," p. 314. 

McCall, "America the Melting Pot," p. 310. 

Wilson, "To Newly-Made Citizens," p. 322. 

Gibbons, "The Republic Will Endure," p. 340. 

Ehot, "What Americans Believe In," p. 361. 

Abbott, "Patriotism," p. 362. 
In Foerster and Pierson's American Ideals: 

Wilson, "Conscription Proclamation," p. 175. 

Wilson, "Americanism and the Foreign-Born," p. 178. 

Alderman, "Can Democracy be Organized?" p. 158. 



CHAPTER VIII 
A WORLD COMMUNITY 

Is there a world community? A world torn by war, as our 
world was from 1914 to 1918, may not seem to give much evi- 
dence of it, and many would at once answer "No" to our ques- 
tion. And yet such phrases as the "brotherhood of man" and 
the " cause of humanity " are familiar to us all. We may briefly 
discuss the question in this study, because if there is such a 
community we are all members of it, and our membership in it 
affects our lives as individuals and as a nation. 

The world community is certainly very imperfectly developed, 
but while the war emphasized its imperfections,' it also furnished 
evidence of its reality. Its existence depends upon 
the presence of recognized common purposes and ^aAiscfosed 
of organized team work in accomplishing these with regard 
purposes, as in the case of any community. The community 
war disclosed conflicting interests among the na- 
tions ; but it united for a common purpose a larger part of the 
world's population than had ever before acted together in a 
common cause. It disclosed an interdependence among the 
nations and the peoples of the world that we had not thought 
of. And while it disclosed the weakness of the world's organiza- 
tion for team work, it aroused us to the possibilities of such 
organization, made us long for it, and brought us, as many 
believe, a step nearer to its accomplishment. 

Separated by wide oceans from the rest of the world, our 
nation grew and prospered with a sense of security America's 
from the conflicts that from time to time disturbed f^^J^^'J^^''* 
the Old World. We early adopted a policy of world 

93 



94 



COMMUNITY CIVICS 



avoiding entanglements that might draw us into these con- 
flicts. In his Farewell Address Washington said : 

The great rule of conduct for us in regard to foreign nations is, in extending 
our commercial relations, to have with them as little political connection 
as possible. . « , Why, by interweaving our destiny with that of any part 




"The Atlantic has been Crossed by Airplane" 

From a painting by Lieut. C. E. Ruttan, U.S.N.R.F. 

This is one of a series of paintings depicting the trans-Atlantic flight and hanging 
in the Bureau of Navigation, Navy Department, Washington, D.C. 

of Europe, entangle our peace and posterity in the toils of European ambi- 
tion, rivalship, interest, humor, or caprice? It is our true policy to steer 
clear of permanent alliances with any portion of the foreign world. 

A few years later, President Monroe issued his famous state- 
ment known as the Monroe Doctrine, which, recognizing the 
principle that Washington had stated, also denied the right of 
European powers to interfere with the free growth of the 



A WORLD COMMUNITY 95 

republican nations of North and South America. The United 
States has steadfastly held to this doctrine from that day to 
this. 

But great changes have come to the world since the time of 
Washington. The use of steam in navigation, the submarine 
cable, and wireless telegraphy have brought all the j^ations have 
world into closer relations than existed between become close 
New England and the Southern States in the early °®^^ 
days of our national life. Our government at Washington may 
send messages to European capitals and receive a reply within 
ten minutes. The Atlantic has been crossed by airplane. The 
nations of the world have become very close neighbors. The 
murder of a prince in a Httle city of central Europe, drew from 
miUions of homes in America their sons to fight on the soil of 
Europe. We entered the war because our interests were so 
closely bound up with those of the world that we could not 
keep out; because "what affects mankind is inevitably our 
affair, as well as the affair of the nations of Europe and Asia." 

The war did not create this interdependence ; it only empha- 
sized it. But now that we are aware of it, it will probably 
influence our lives to a much greater extent than before the war. 

The nations that were associated against Germany occupy, 
with their dependencies, two thirds of the earth's surface and 
include more than four fifths of its population, ^^at the 
The governments of these nations declared that world was 
they were fighting primarily, not for selfish interests ^ ^^^ 
such as "ports and provinces and trade," but "for the common 
interests of the whole family of civihzed nation^ — for nothing 
less than the cause of mankind." ^ Even if some of the govern- 
ments were influenced to a greater or less extent by selfish 
motives, they still recognized a common interest of the peoples 
of the world, a "cause of mankind," and based their appeals 
upon it. The prime minister of England said, "We must 
1 Stuart P. Sherman, American and Allied Ideals, p. 14, 



96 COMMUNITY CIVICS 

not allow any sense of revenge, any spirit of greed, any grasping 
desire, to overcome the fundamental principles of righteous- 
ness." Far-away Siam declared that she entered the war "to 
uphold the sanctity of international rights against nations show- 
ing a contempt for humanity." And httle Guatemala pro- 
claimed that she had ''from the first adhered to and supported 
the attitude of the United States in defense of the rights of 
nations, of liberty of the seas, and of international justice." 
Our President said that "what we demand in this war is nothing 
peculiar to ourselves. It is that the world be made fit and safe 
to live in for every peace-loving nation. . . . All the peoples 
of the world are in effect partners in this interest." 

The avowed purpose for which the United States entered the 
war, and for which "all the peoples of the world are in effect 
partners," is the same as that for which the American Revolu- 
tionary War was fought, which was proclaimed in our Declara- 
tion of Independence, and for which America has always stood 
— the equal right of all men to "life, liberty, and the pursuit 
of happiness," and to self-government. Nearly the whole 
world was united against a few autocratic governments that 
denied these rights. 

At the time of the American Revolution the colonists had no 
desire to fight the English people, but revolted against the 
autocratic English government of that time, which 
fought for refused to recognize the rights of the people. The 
the freedom English people had many times fought for these 
rights, and many of them sympathized with the 
American colonists. The winning of American independence 
was a victory for free government in England as well as in 
America, and the government of England to-day is as democratic 
as our own. This understanding about the American Revolu- 
tion throws light upon what the President of the United States 
meant when he said that we fought Germany for "the ultimate 
peace of the world and for the liberation of its peoples, the 



A WORLD COMMUNITY 97 

German peoples included. ^^ Another writer said, "We are not 
fighting to put the Germans out but to get them in." 

It has taken a long time for the peoples of the world to 
develop a sense of their common wants and purposes. Differ- 
ences in language, in race and color, in religious ^, 
beliefs and observances, in forms of government, of human 
even in such matters as dress and other habits ^y°^P^*hy 
and customs, have tended to obscure the common feelings of 
all. This lack of sympathetic understanding is suggested by 
Shylock, in Shakespeare's Merchant of Venice: 

Hath not a Jew eyes? hath not a Jew hands, organs, dimensions, senses, 
affections, passions? fed with the same food, hurt with the same weapons, 
subject to the same diseases, healed by the same means, warmed and cooled 
by the same Winter and Summer, as a Christian is? If you prick us, do 
we not bleed? if you tickle us, do we not laugh? if you poison us, do we not 
die? and if you wrong us, shall we not revenge? if we are like you in the rest 
we will resemble you in that. 

Increased opportunity for travel, better means of communica- 
tion, and more widespread education have greatly increased 
the understanding among peoples and nations, and have dis- 
closed to view common purposes and ideals in spite of differences. 
The fact that large numbers of people from every part of the 
globe have come to the United States to live together as one 
nation has contributed to the same result 

Give illustrations from your own experience and reading to show that 
differences in dress, language, race, and customs make sympathetic under- 
standing difficult. 

What is meant by "America, the melting-pot"? 

As the peoples of the world have become better acquainted, 
individuals and groups have tended to associate international 
themselves together, regardless of national bound- cooperation 
aries, for the promotion of common interests. 

One example of this is the common movement of organized labor which 
has overstepped national boundaries. 

There is an International Institute of Agriculture, with headquarters 
at Rome, and representing 56 countries, the purpose of which is to promote 



98 



COMMUNITY CIVICS 



better economic and social conditions among agricultural populations of the 
world. Some of its publications are published in five languages. 

Literature and art bind all the world together, and science knows no 
national boundary lines. Christianity is one of the greatest influences for 
a "brotherhood of man." Differences in religious belief have presented 
most difficult barriers to overcome, but there has been a steadily increasing 
tolerance of one religious faith toward others. 

These are only a few of hundreds of illustrations that might be given. 

Make a list of international organizations known to you or your parents. 




Meeting of the League of Red Cross Societies, Geneva, Switzerland 

Thirty nations are here represented. The meeting is being held in the room where 
the treaty was concluded between the United States and Great Britain settUng the 
dispute that arose during the Civil War with regard to the Confederate boat Alabama. 



We have all become familiar, during the war, with the work 
of the Red Cross. No other organization has done more to 
extend the feeling of common [brotherhood in the world and 
the spirit of world service. Since the war a League of Red Cross 
Societies has been formed, with headquarters at Geneva, Swit- 



A WORLD COMMUNITY 99 

zerland, and representing thirty nations. During the war a 

Junior Department of the Red Cross was organized, enrolling 

in its membership about twelve milKon Amer- e • r 
"^ Service of 

ican boys and girls and organizing them for the Red 
practical service to war-stricken Europe and Asia. ^^°^^ 
Since the war, the Junior Red Cross, whose headquarters are at 
Washington, D.C., has developed a plan to promote corre- 
spondence among boys and girls of different lands, and an 
exchange of handiwork, pictures, and other things illustrative of 
their interests. The American School Citizenship League (405 
Marlborough Street, Boston) encourages the same idea, and 
there is a Bureau of French- American Education Correspondence 
for a similar purpose, with headquarters at the George Peabody 
College for Teachers, Nashville, Tenn. 

Numerous international peace congresses have been held, the 
first one as early as 1843, and in the United ^j^^ move- 
States and other countries organizations exist for ment for 
the promotion of friendly relations among the ^^"^ ^^^^^ 
nations, and especially for the substitution of arbitration for 
war as a means of settling international disputes. 

Among such organizations in the United States are the League to Enforce 
Peace, the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, the American 
Peace and Arbitration League, the American Peace Society, the World 
Peace Federation, the Church Peace Union. 

One of the most successful experiments in international 
cooperation is that of the North and South American republics. 
The first Pan-American Conference, attended by ^^^_ 
delegates from the twenty-one American republics, American 
was held in Washington, D.C., in 1889. As a ^^^ 
result of this Conference the Pan-American Union was estab- 
lished, with permanent headquarters in Washington. Its 
purpose is " the development of commerce, friendly intercourse, 
and good understanding among these countries." 

"What may be gained by correspondence between the young people of 
different lands? 



lOO 



COMMUNITY CIVICS 



Report on the following (see Readings) : 
The work of the Pan-American Union 
The work of the Red Cross in war and peace 
The peace program of the Junior Red Cross 

To secure anything like effective team work among the na- 
tions for the common interest and to substitute arbitration 
International for war as a means of settling differences, there 
government must be some kind of international organization, 
and rules to which the governments of the nations will agree. 




Pan-American Building, Washington, D.C. 

Civilized nations have always had their official means of dealing 
with one another through their governments, such as the diplo- 
matic and consular services. Alliances have, from time im- 
memorial, been made between nations, treaties have been 
solemnly agreed to, and a body of international law has gradually 
grown up. But treaties and international law have frequently 
been violated, and no international government has existed 
with sufficient authority or power to force nations to observe 



A WORLD COMMUNITY 



lOI 



the law or to keep their agreements. As a result of two peace 
conferences held at The Hague in Holland, in 1899 and 1907, 
an international Court of Arbitration was established at The 
Hague (The Hague Tribunal), before which disputes might 
be brought by nations if they desired to do so. But there was no 
way by which a nation could be compelled to appeal to the court. 




International Industrial Conference, 19 19 

This Conference was held at Washington, D.C., having been called together by 
the United States Government in accordance with the terms of the treaty of peace 
with Germany. It was attended by delegates from forty nations. 

Nations have a strong sense of their nationality, and are 
extremely jealous of th^ir sovereignty, which is the Nationality 

supreme power claimed by every nation to form and 

J X V ^ sovereignty 

Its own government and to manage its own 

affairs without interference by other nations. It is this that 



I02 COMMUNITY CIVICS 

ha§ prevented the development of anything hke a real inter- 
national government that could control the conduct of national 
governments, or that could require a nation to submit its 
grievances to any judge other than itself. This has been one of 
the chief weaknesses of the world community. 

Many people have long believed that the self-governing 
nations of the world must sooner or later unite, in the interest 
A League of world peace, in some kind of federation or league, 

of Nations ^j^-]^ ^ central organization to which all would agree 
to submit their differences. The war made it seem even more 
necessary. Accordingly the Peace Conference at Versailles 
at the close of the war included in the treaty of peace a Covenant 
(or constitution) for a League of Nations. In January, 1920, 
the treaty, including the Covenant, had been ratified by four of 
the five great nations associated against Germany (France, 
England, Italy, and Japan ; the United States being the excep- 
tion), and several smaller nations. While the President of 
the United States strongly advocated the treaty with the 
Covenant, the Senate did not approve of its ratification. Those 
in our country who opposed the Covenant as it was offered by 
the Peace Conference did so for a variety of reasons, but chief 
among them were : first, the fear that the Covenant would cause 
us to depart from the principles laid down by Washington and 
Monroe (see page 94) ; and, second, the fear that the powers 
conferred upon the international government would deprive our 
rational government of some of its sovereign powers. The 
friends of the Covenant of course denied that either of these 
things would be true. 

The question of the entrance of the United States into the 
League of Nations under the Covenant as contained in the treaty 
The League of peace became an issue in the presidential elec- 
begins work ^-jq^ of 1920. By the overwhelming defeat of the 
Democratic candidate, who favored acceptance of the Covenant, 
the people confirmed the action of the Senate a few months 



A WORLD COMMUNITY 



103 



earlier. However, the victorious candidate of the RepubHcan 
Party declared himself in favor of "some kind" of an association 
of nations which the United States should enter, and this seems 
to represent popular feeling, although there are those in both ' 
great political parties who wish the United States to remain out 
of any such association or league. Meanwhile, the League of 




Assembling of the Peace Conference at Paris, France 

President Poincare of France, in opening the conference said, "You hold in your 
hands the future of the world." 



Nations as provided for in the Covenant in the treaty of peace 
has been organized, its Council having held its first meeting 
January 16, 1920, the United States, of course, not being repre- 
sented. By the end of 1920, forty-six nations were members. 
Whether or not the United States should enter the League 
we shall have to leave for the statesmen to decide ; and whether 
or not the League will accomplish the desired ends, time alone 
can prove. But two or three things may safely be said with 
regard to any really effective world government. 



I04 COMMUNITY CIVICS 

When people live together in communities, each person has 
to sacrifice something of his personal freedom in order that all 
Might does ^^^ enjoy the largest possible liberty (see page 
not make 22). The same is true of families in a neighbor- 

"^ hood, of communities in a state, of the states in 

our nation. There is no reason why it should not be true of 
nations which are neighbors to one another. No nation has 
any more right to do as it pleases than a person or a family 
has, if what it pleases to do is unjust to its neighbors. The only 
thing, however, that a nation can properly be asked to give 
up is being unjust to its neighbors. We saw in Chapter IV that 
government and law increase rather than decrease the individual 
citizen's freedom, and that it is only the ''ill-mannered" who 
feel the restriction of a wise government (see page 48). So, when 
we finally get a world government that is good, it will be one that 
will increase the freedom of all "good-mannered" nations, re- 
stricting only those that are "ill-mannered." 

Moreover, when we finally get a league of nations that will 

^j^^^ really secure friendly cooperation among the na- 

" America tions for their common interests, it will be brought 

irst means q^j^q^i-^ j^q^ y^y sacrificing nationality and national 

patriotism, but by strengthening them. 

What is required is not less loyalty to one's nationality, but more sympa- 
thetic understanding of nationalities and national ideals different from one's 
own, combined with a recognition of the fundamental interests. . . . which 
unite them to each other.^ 

The only way to be sure of a perfect neighborhood is first to 
see to it that the homes of the neighborhood are strong and 
wholesome. No person can really be loyal to his neighborhood 
who is not first of all loyal to his home. Thoroughly efficient 
townships and counties and cities are essential to a thoroughly 
efficient state ; and no citizen is loyal to his state who is not 
loyal to his township, county, and city. The strength of our 

1 "Thoughts on Nationalism and Internationalism," in History Teacher^ s Maga- 
zine, June, 1918, p. 334. 



A WORLD COMMUNITY 105 

nation depends upon the strength of the states that compose it, 
and real national patriotism cannot well exist in the heart of a 
citizen who is disloyal to his state. The first essential step 
toward an effective world government is to see that our national 
government is efficient and at the same time just. The first 
and best service that a citizen can perform for the world com- 
munity is to be loyal to American ideals, which are becoming 
the ideals of an ever-increasing part of the world's population. 
The new type of patriot no longer cries, ''My country against 
the world,'' hut ''My country for the world.'' ^ 

What disputes have been setded by the Hague Tribunal? Why was 
the dispute that led to the recent war not settled by it? 

The meaning of "nationality?" Of "sovereignty?" 

Has a government any more right to be dishonest than an individual? 

Report both sides of the argument over the ratification by the United 
States of the treaty of peace with the Covenant for the League of Nations 
(see references). 

Follow the steps of the Republican administration begun in 19 21 to bring 
the United States into "some kind of association" with the other nations. 

Discuss the truth of the statement that "the only way to be sure of a 
perfect neighborhood is first to see to it that the homes of the neighborhood 
are strong and wholesome." 

What is the meaning of the statement in the quotation at the end of 
the text above? 

READINGS 

In Long's American Patriotic Prose: 

Washington, "Farewell Address," pp. 105-124. 

Washington, "Proclamation of Neutrality," pp. 143-146- 

"The Monroe Doctrine," pp. 148-149. 

John Quincy Adams, "The Mission of America," pp. 149-150. 

George F. Hoar, "A Warning Against the Spirit of Empire," pp. 244-247. 

Woodrow Wilson, "Spirit of America," pp. 266-268. 

Franklin K. Lane, "Why We Are Fighting Germany," pp. 282-283. 

Carl Schurz, "The Rule of Honor for the Republic," pp. 342-343- 

Woodrow Wilson, "War Message of April 2, 1917." PP- 3S1-361. 
In Foerster and Pierson's American Ideals: 

Washington, "Counsel on Alliances" (Farewell Address), pp. 185-189. 

1 Stuart P. Sherman, American and Allied Ideals, p. 14. 



io6 COMMUNITY CIVICS 

"The Monroe Doctrine," pp. 190-193. 

Henry Clay, "The Emancipation of South America," pp. 194-199. 

Robert E. Lansing, "Pan-Americanism," pp. 200-296. 

A. Lawrence Lowell, "A League to Enforce Peace," pp. 207-223. 

George G. Wilson, "The Monroe Doctrine and the League to Enforce Peace," 

pp. 224-232. 
Woodrow Wilson, "The Conditions of Peace," pp. 233-241. 
Woodrow Wilson, "War for Democracy and Peace," pp. 242-256. 
Various books and pamphlets have been written relating to the League of Nations 
and world relations following the war. Among these are : 

The League of Nations, edited by Henry E. Jackson (published by Prentice- Hall, 
Inc., 70 Fifth Ave., N.Y. Paper, 50j4; cloth, $1). "A document prepared to 
stimulate community discussion and promote organized public opinion." This 
book contains, at the end, a list of titles of books and pamphlets on the subject. 
The Lodge-Lowell Debate on the Covenant of the League of Nations (World Peace 
Foundation, Boston). President Lowell, of Harvard University, argued for, 
and Senator Lodge against, the Covenant as contained in the treaty of peace. 
Taft, William Howard, Why a League of Nations is Necessary (League to Enforce 

Peace, New York). 
Sherman, Stuart 'P., American and Allied I deals (World Peace Foundation, Boston). 
The complete ofl&cial record of the United States Senate debate on the treaty 
of peace is to be found in the Congressional Record, a file of which should be in your 
public library. 

The course of the debate was followed more or less closely by such periodicals as 
The Literary Digest, World's Work, The Outlook, The Independent. 

For the work of the Pan-American Union and the Red Cross consult your public 
library ; and write to the Pan-American Union and the American Red Cross, both in 
Washington, D.C., for descriptive publications. 

For the Hague Conferences and the Hague Tribunal consult anj' good modern en- 
cyclopedia, and your public library. Write for materials to the American School 
Peace League, 405 Marlborough St., Boston, and the World Peace Foundation, 
Boston. 

Lessons in Community and National Life: Series B, Lesson i6, "Why We Must 
Help France." 



CHAPTER IX 

THE COMMUNITY AND THE HOME 

"iV(? nation can be destroyed while it possesses a good home life." 

The home is the smallest, the simplest, and the most familiar 
community of which we are members. In many respects it is 
also the most important. The quotation with which the chapter 
opens suggests this. 

What do you think the quotation at the head of the chapter means? 
In what respects do you think it is true? 

Some cities take pride in the fact that they are "cities of homes." What 
does this mean? Why is it a cause for pride? Does the phrase apply to 
your city? 

May a good home exist in a poor dwelling? A poor home in a fine 

dwelling? 

Is a hotel a home? May a family living in a hotel have a home there? 

Is an orphanage a home? Would you be willing to exchange life in your 
own home for life in an orphanage? Why? 

The home is important (i) because of what it does for its own 
members, and (2) because of what it does for the larger com- 
munity of which it is a part. 

Under the conditions of pioneer life the wants of the members 

of the family were provided for almost entirely by their own 

united efforts. When other homes were built in Effect of 

the neighborhood a larger community life began, community 

. , ,11 growth 

The neighbormg homes came to depend upon one 

another and to cooperate in many ways. The store at the 
crossroads provided for many wants that each home had for- 
merly provided for itself. The doctor who came to live in the 
community relieved the home of much anxiety in case of sick- 
ness. The education of the children was in part, at least, turned 

107 



io8 



COMMUNITY CIVICS 



over to the community school. And so, as a community grows, 
the home shifts much of the responsibihty for providing for the 
wants of its members upon community agencies. 

This shifting of responsibihty for the welfare of citizens from 
the home to the larger community is carried furthest in cities. 
D enden e Almost everything wanted in the home may be 
of the city bought in the city shops, and work that is done in 
°°^® the home for the family, such as repair work, dress- 

making, laundry work, and cooking, is likely to be done by 

people brought in from the 
outside. Water is piped in 
from a public water sup- 
ply and sewage is piped out 
through public sewers. 
Gas and electricity are 
furnished by city plants. 
Since many homes have 
no spot of ground for a 
garden or for outdoor 
play, they depend upon 
public parks and playgrounds provided by the city. These are 
among the many so-called advantages of city life. 

When so much is done for the citizen by community agencies, 
there is danger that the family may lose sight of its responsibility 
to its own members and to the community. The 
home can never transfer to the community the 
entire responsibility for the welfare of its members. 
Even in the largest and best governed cities, the influence of the 
home for the health, the safety, the education, the social and 
recreational life of the people is more far-reaching than that of any 
other agency. Indeed, the responsibility of the home increases 
with the growth of the community because of the increasing 
interdependence of which we have learned (Chapter II). 




Old Log House on an Ohio Farm 



The 

obUgation of 
the home 



THE COMMUNITY AND THE HOME 



109 



When a home is isolated, its members are the chief sufferers from failure 
to take proper measures for health protection. In a city, the carelessness or 
indiflference or ignorance of one family may cause the pollution of the entire 
city's water supply, or the spread of an epidemic of disease. The influence 
of an untidy or illiterate home may counteract the influence of a good school 
throughout an entire neighborhood. 




A Street or Homes in Kansas City 



Schools, health department, fire department, and all the other 
agencies of the city government, which are, as we have seen, 
merely the machinery for securing community cooperation, will 
fail to produce the results expected of them unless cooperation 
on the part of the community's homes actually takes place. 
It is a lack of such cooperation that is really responsible for 
much of the inefficiency for which the schools and other depart- 
ments of government are frequently blamed. 

Review what was said in Chapter II regarding the independence of the 
pioneer family; also what was said about the growing dependence of the 
family upon the community. 

Gather stories regarding pioneer home life (a) in your own locality ; (b) in 
the settlement of the West; (c) in colonial times. Illustrate from these 
stories how the home provided for the wants of its members. 



no 



COMMUNITY CIVICS 



From parents or grandparents ascertain what wants were provided for 
in their homes during childhood that are now provided for by agencies out- 
side of your home. 

How far is it true that "ahnost everything wanted in your home is bought 
in the city shops," and that "work done in your home for the family is 
done by help brought in from outside?" 

Discuss the truth of the statement that " the responsibility of the home 
increases with the growth of the community," giving illustration from your 
own experience or observation. 




New Homes in Wichita Falls, Texas 



Show how your school may be hindered in its work by lack of cooperation 
on the part of the homes of the pupils. In what respects does your school 
depend particularly upon cooperation from the homes of the pupils? 

Home building is always an important factor in community 
and nation building. It gives permanence and stability to 
community and national life. This is suggested 
by the experience of Wichita Falls, Texas. Because 
of the discovery of oil in the vicinity, this city grew 
from a population of 8500 in 1910 to a population 
of 45,000 in 1920. "Realizing that Wichita Falls in its new era 



The home 
the unit 
of commun 
ity life 



THE COMMUNITY AND THE HOME iii 

of growth is made up largely of newcomers, the Chamber of 
Commerce is endeavoring to tie the families throughout the city 
definitely to the community through the formation of block 
organizations and ' block parties.' It is impossible to hold a 
family wholeheartedly unless some sort of claim upon the home, 
including the wife and mother and the children, is established. 
The fact that the head of the family has a good business connec- 
tion downtown does not make good citizens of the entire family." ^ 




Reconstruction of Homes in France 

Note the temporary homes erected in the ruins of this town (Attigny) . Through 
the Junior Red Cross many boys and girls of America have helped to furnish such 
homes and to care for the children who occupy them. 

One of the first things to which France and other European 
nations turned their attention after the close of the Great War 
was the restoration of home life. In the war- 
swept regions many thousands of homes had been j^^g ^^ gar- 
des troyed. More serious than the destruction of stricken 
dwellings was the breaking up of families, which 
was not limited to the battle zone. It is said that more than 
1 The American City, September, 1920, p. 315. 



112 



COMMUNITY CIVICS 




Some of Poland's Homeless Children 




Feeding the Hungry in Albania 
The breaking up of families was a serious result of the war 



THE COMMUNITY AND THE HOME 113 

11,000,000 children in Europe lost one or both parents during 
the war, and that from one third to one half of this number were 
left absolutely homeless. The children of America have helped 
materially in the reconstruction of European homes through 
the channels of the Junior Red Cross. 

In what ways do you think the existence oE 11,000,000 war orphans in 
Europe weakens the nations in which they live? 

Why should America be interested in these European war orphans? 

Report on the work of the Junior Red Cross in assisting the children of 
Europe. 

When the United States government undertook to develop 
the resources of the unsettled public lands in the West (see 
Chapter XX), it sought the cooperation of the . 
people in the enterprise, and secured it largely by building 
appealing to their desire to own homes. Thus, the JJ^^.^J.^^ ^°°^® 
Homestead Act passed by Congress in 1862 and 
modified from time to time by later Acts, provides that any 
citizen of the United States who has reached the age of twenty- 
one, or who is the head of a family, may acquire a homestead 
in the public lands on condition that he builds a dwelling, lives 
there for a period of three years and actually cultivates the 
land, paying to the government only a small fee. Thus the 
government serves the people by aiding them to acquire homes, 
while the people serve the nation by opening up the resources of 
the land. 

The census taken by the United States government every 

ten years shows that home ownership has been decreasing both 

in cities and in rural districts, but most in cities. 

' .111 • Home owner- 

This has been observed with considerable anxiety ship and 
because of its probable effect upon our national g^^^^""'*^ 
welfare and upon the citizenship of the country. 
A family that owns its home feels a sense of proprietorship in a 
part of the community land. The money value of a home 
increases in proportion to the prosperity of the community as 



114 



COMMUNITY CIVICS 




Which Family Takes the Greater Interest in the Community? 



a whole ; its owner will therefore be incUned to do all he can to 
promote the weKare of the community. A community that is 
made up largely of homes owned by their occupants is likely 
to be more prosperous and more progressive, and its citizens 
more loyal to it, than a community whose families are tenants. 



THE COMMUNITY AND THE HOME 115 

Yet it must not be thought that tenancy is in all cases a bad 
thing, nor that a man who does not own his home cannot be a 
thoroughly good citizen. There are circumstances The tenant 
that make it necessary for many families to live in ^^ * citizen 
dwellings that they do not own. Tenancy may be a step 
toward home ownership. A citizen may have insufficient 
money to buy a home, but enough to enable him to rent one. 
By industry, economy, and intelligence, he may soon accumulate 
means with which to buy the home he occupies or some other. 
It is as much the duty of the home renter as it is of the home 
ownei to take an interest in the community life in which he and 
his family share, and to cooperate with his neighbors for the 
common good. While he hves in the community, he is largely 
dependent upon it, like any other citizen, for the satisfaction of 
his wants. Its streets and markets and shops are as free for 
him as for others. He gets the benefit of its schools for the 
education of his children. His life, his health, and his property 
are protected by the same agencies that protect those of his 
home-owning neighbors. He cannot, therefore, escape the 
responsibility of contributing to the progress of his community 
to the extent of his ability. 

Is home ownership increasing or decreasing in your neighborhood? 
What reasons are given by your parents and others? Consult your parents 
and others regarding the beneficial or detrimental effects upon the neighbor- 
hood of this increase or decrease. Compare, in class, the results from the 
several neighborhoods represented by the different members of the class. 

Does experience in your community support the statement that home 
owners are likely to take greater interest in the community than home renters ? 

Make a map of your block, and upon it show the homes that are owned 
by their occupants and those that are rented. What per cent of the homes 
are occupied by their owners ? 

What benefits from the community does a home owner enjoy that a home 
renter does not enjoy? What responsibilities does the home owner have that 
the home renter does not have? Consult your parents. 

A "home" consists of very much more than a dwelling place ; 
yet families have to be properly housed if homes are to be 



Il6 COMMUNITY CIVICS 

thoroughly happy and contribute effectively to the welfare of 
the community. It is not necessary that the dwelling be "costly 
The housing or pretentious ; some homes are very imperfect in 
problem spite of elaborate dwelling places. But no home 

can perform its full service to its members or to the community 
if housed in unwholesome or very unpleasant conditions. The 
housing of its people is a matter of first importance to any com- 
munity. 

The rapid growth of cities (see page 73) has brought with it a 
serious housing problem. Almost every city ' has its over- 
Effect of crowded residence districts. Population often 
the growth grows more rapidly than housing facilities can be 
ci les provided. Frequently transportation facilities are 
inadequate, preventing people from living at a distance ' from 
their work, and causing congestion in spots. Foreign elements 
in the population tend to mass themselves in restricted dis- 
tricts in accordance with nationality or race. Lack of space for 
separate dwellings leads to the construction of apartment or 
tenement houses, and grasping landlords sometimes seek to 
increase their revenues by reducing the size, and thereby in- 
creasing the number, of rooms and apartments in a building. 
Besides all this, many people are ignorant with respect to whole- 
some conditions of living. 

The housing problem was greatly aggravated during the 
recent war. The demand for workers in war industries caused 
Effect of a sudden great increase in city population, while 

the war demand for labor and materials for war purposes 

caused an almost complete cessation of building operations. 
Thus there occurred a serious shortage of housing facihties in 
practically all cities. Those who crowded into industrial centers 
found Hving conditions too often unpleasant and unwholesome. 
People cannot do their work well when they live in unwholesome 
or unpleasant surroundings, so that one of the first things our 
government had to do was to provide suitable housing facilities 



THE COMMUNITY AND THE HOME 



117 



for those working to supply its needs. During the first year 
of the war Congress appropriated $200,000,000 for housing 
purposes. 




A "Street" in Philadelphia 



Bad housing conditions are a menace to the community in 
many ways. They increase fire hazards. They endanger the 
health of the entire community. They breed vice Regulation 
and crime. They cause depreciation of property of housing 
values. They increase the cost of government. 
For these reasons cities have been driven, after much neglect, 
to seek a remedy. Nearly all large cities have departments 
of government for the purpose — tenement house depart- 
ments, or housing bureaus or commissions— and laws to control 



ii8 



COMMUNITY CIVICS 



building so as to secure health and safety. A system of in- 
spection is usually maintained. Sometimes there are state 
laws regulating housing in all cities of the state. In sor^e cities 
voluntary organizations of citizens have been created for coopera- 
tion for better homes. In some cases "model tenements" 
have been built as a demonstration of the possibility of pro- 



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Homes for Industrial Workers 
Pressed Steel Car Company, Pittsburgh, Pa. 

viding homes at reasonable cost, but still yielding a profit to the 
promoters. Interest in this matter has been greatly stimulated 
as a result of the conditions produced by the war. 

Cincinnati affords an illustration of organization for the promotion of 
better housing. The city has a Housing Bureau in the Building Depart- 
ment of its government, and a Sanitary Bureau in its Health Department, 
both of which are said to be unusually efficient. But in addition, there is 
a voluntary organization of citizens known as the Better Housing League, 
which is supported by funds contributed by the citizens of Cincinnati 
to the "community chest" for purposes of community welfare. 

The Better Housing League maintains a number of "visiting house- 
keepers," who visit and supervise every house in districts where conditions 
are not what they should be, instructing the tenants in matters pertaining 



THE COMMUNITY AND THE HOME II9 

to home-making, and seeking the cooperation of the owners of the dwelling, 
in keeping the latter in good repair. 

The case of Cincinnati described above illustrates the impor- 
tance which cities are beginning to attribute to their housing 
and homemaking problems. It also illustrates Teamwork 
the necessity of team work in meeting these prob- in home- 
lems successfully. Government bureaus, volun- ^^ ^^ 
tary service organizations, landlords and tenants, the citizens 
generally, all have to work together. Even the children have a 
part. Of the visiting housekeeper in Cincinnati it is said, 
''Often her best ally would be the children, who could be en- 
couraged to help the mother with the housekeeping or to take 
full charge of caring for the yard, and who often could be won 
over when the parents appeared utterly unresponsive." The 
school children of Cincinnati are organized in a "Civic and 
Vocational League," which gives them opportunity to participate 
in movements of community welfare. They have cooperated in 
the better housing movement, have studied the subject in the 
schools, and have had an essay contest on the subject, "What 
I have done to improve my home and neighborhood." ^ 

Has your city a housing problem? Is it more of a problem to-day than 
before the war? If so, in what way? 

Are there sections of your city in which population is greatly congested? 
On a map of your city show these sections. Why has congestion occurred 
in these particular sections more than in others? 

Find out what fire insurance rates are in the congested districts of your 
city as compared with those of less crowded districts. If there is a differ- 
ence, why is it? 

From the health reports of your city ascertain in what sections there is 
the most sickness; in what sections the highest death rate. Show these 
sections on your map and compare with the sections of crowded population. 
What is meant by "death rate"? 

Why should bad housing conditions increase the cost of government? Is 
• it true that they do so in your city? 

1 This information regarding Cincinnati is taken from The American City, October, 
1920, p. 375- 



120 



COMMUNITY CIVICS 



Is there a tenement house department, or housing bureau, or other 
governmental agency, in your city to regulate housing? If so, get copies of 
its reports for examination in class. From these reports or other sources as- 
certain such facts as the following : — Kinds of work done by the department 
or bureau; the worst features of the housing situation in your city ; improve- 




Alley Homes 



ments recently made in the situation ; who is in charge of the department 
or bureau ; how he (or they) is appointed or chosen for the work. 

What voluntary agencies exist in your city to deal with the housing 
situation? Get copies of their reports for study. 

If any governmental or voluntary agencies have made photographic 
illustrations of the housing conditions in your city, try to get copies for 
study. (May be reproduced in printed reports.) 

Who is responsible for bad housing conditions in your city? 

Could the school children of your city do anything to improve home 
conditions? Would a "Better Homes League" be a good thing in your 
school? 



THE COMMUNITY AND THE HOME .121 

How could you find out about the organization and work of the Civic 
and Vocational League of Cincinnati? 

What impression would a stranger get with regard to the "community 
spirit" of your city or neighborhood from the appearance of its homes? 
Would he be right? 

One reason for bad housing conditions is the fact that our 
cities have been allowed to grow up without plan. The city of 
Washington is the one conspicuous example in the city 
United States of a city built according to a plan Planning 
carefully made in the beginning, the result being a city of ex- 
ceptional beauty. Two other facts have tended to preserve 
Washington as ''a city of homes." One of these is the ample 
space available for expansion, and the other is the almost entire 
absence of industrial life and its accompaniment of factory 
districts. Other influences have been at work, however, even 
in Washington, to prevent the fullest development of home life, 
and even resulting in bad housing conditions. 

The District of Columbia, in which the nation's capital is 
situated, comprises 70 square miles of land which was ceded 
to the nation by the state of Maryland.^ Instead The nation's 
of retaining direct control over all this land, the capital 
government sold a large part of it for private use. This resulted, 
for one thing, in the construction of many buildings wholly 
out of harmony with the original plan. Under private ownership, 
also, land speculation has occurred, and land values have 
enormously increased, especially in certain sections. One result 
is that, while large areas of land within the city still remain 
unimproved, in other sections, even in the best parts of the city, 
dwellings have been crowded together in unattractive rows 
with Httle or no yard space. Worse than this, actual ''slum" 
districts were allowed to develop in the heart of the city, even 
narrow alleys becoming occupied with unsanitary dweUings. 
The worst of these conditions have been rectified, but at much 

1 The District originally included an area on the Virginia side of the Potomac, but 
this was ceded back to Virginia. 



122 



COMMUNITY CIVICS 



greater cost than would have been the case if they had been 
prevented in the beginning. 

Another thing that has influenced the housing situation in our 
capital city is the proportionately large population connected 
Apartment with the government and living in the city only 
houses temporarily. One result of this is a remarkably 

large number of apartment houses for a city with as much 
space as Washington has. They have sprung up in all parts 




Why "Zoning" is Necessary 



of the city. Some of them are attractive in appearance, others 
are not. In some cases the ground floor is occupied by shops of 
various kinds, which have been rapidly encroaching upon the 
residential districts of the city. Like many other cities, Wash- 
ington is now trying to correct this situation by the adoption 
of what is known as the '^zoning system." This is a plan by 
which to regulate the types of buildings that may be constructed 
in various ''zones," or areas, of the city. By it business estab- 
lishments are excluded from certain districts, the height of 
buildings regulated, and so on. 

In the city of Cleveland, where the right of the city to restrict 



THE COMMUNITY AND THE HOME 123 

the building of apartment houses was questioned, a decision 
was rendered in one of the courts, in which the following state- 
ments were made: 

"It would seem that there could be no two opinions upon the proposition 
that the apartment house, or tenement, in a section of private residences, 

is a nuisance to those in its immediate vicinity It shuts off the light 

and air from its neighbors, it invades their privacy, it spreads smoke and 
soot throughout the neighborhood. The noise of constant deliveries is almost 
continuous. The fire hazard is recognized to be increased. ... The dan- 
ger of the spread of disease is undoubtedly increased, however httle, where a 
number of families use a common hallway and common front and rear 

stairways. ,. . . • ^ 1, 

"The erection of one apartment house in a district of private homes 
would seriously affect only those persons living in the immediate vicinity 
thereof but the conunon experience is that the erection of one apartment 
drives out the single residences adjacent thereto, to make way for more 
apartments. The result is that, in time, and not a very great time when 
one apartment is erected, the whole street is given over to apartment houses. 
"The apartment house is, for many, a desirable convenience, and for 
some a necessity. . . . Their erection should not be prohibited. . . . 
Private residences, with yards for play space, with grass, trees, and flowers 
are necessities for people with children, and as much a convemence to the 
people without children who take an old-fashioned pride m owning their 
homes, as is the apartment house to those who are wilhng to accept it 
restrictions for its compensatory freedom from responsibilities. It is at 
least as important to the community to preserve the private home for this 
class as it is to provide the apartment for the first. _ 

"Under this zoning ordinance the private home is preserved and the 
apartment house is provided. ... The necessities or convenience of those 
who Tve in them" (the apartments) ''will be served ^thus with the least 
sacrifice of the necessities and convemence of others. 

Study the plan of the city of Washington shown on page 214. In what 
re^nects does it differ from the plan of your city? 

Mak a report on "city plannLg," especially as itrelates tobetterhomes 
^ there a city planning movement in your city? If so, how does it 
propose to deal with the housing problem? ^ 

Report on the increase of apartment houses m your city, and m your 

nefghborhood. Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of such increase, 

1 Decision of Judge Kramer, April ,,o, 19.0 ; quoted in The Amman City. August. 

1920, p. 140- 



124 



COMMUNITY CIVICS 



Report on the "zoning system" — in your own city if it is applied there; 
if not, in other cities (see references). 

Is what Judge Kramer says in the second paragraph quoted above true in 
your city? Discuss the justice of what he says in the third and fourth 
paragraphs. 




A Domestic Relations Court 
Where family difficulties are often adjusted 



Living conditions, such as we have been discussing in the 
preceding paragraphs, are only one of the factors in the making 
Stability of of the home. Even more important are the 
the family relations that exist among the members of the 
family. If it is true that the strength of a nation depends 
largely upon the stability of its homes, it is startling to learn 
that in the United States homes are broken up by the divorce 
of husband and wife more frequently than in any other civilized 
country. According to recent statistics there is in England, 
for example, one divorce to every four hundred marriages, 
while in the United States there is one to every twelve marriages ! 



THE COMMUNITY AND THE HOME 125 

The number of divorces in our country during a period of years 
increased three times as rapidly as the population. Divorce 
is due, of course, to unhappy conditions in the home, which are 
themselves harmful. The increasing frequency of divorce 
does not necessarily indicate that there are more unhappy 
homes than formerly; it may merely be an indication of a 
greater inclination on the part of husband and wife to end the 
unhappiness by separation. 

For example, the kinds of occupations open to women have increased 
rapidly in number during recent years. This has brought many advantages 
to women, and will no doubt prove a good thing for the community. 
But the very fact that it has increased women's independence of men for 
support has doubtless led, in many cases, to a postponement of marriage 
and made it less necessary for women to submit to unhappy conditions in 
the home. 

A great many things have to be taken into consideration in 
deciding which is the greater of the two evils — the breaking up 
of the home to end unhappy conditions, or to put ^j^^ welfare 
up with the unhappy conditions in the home for of the 
the sake of holding the family together. In neither 
case can the home perform its full service to its members or 
to the community. One of the chief considerations is the wel- 
fare of the children. Fortunately, the records show that 
divorce occurs less frequently in homes where there are children, 
and this suggests the importance of children as a factor in giving 
stability to the home. And yet there are children in about forty 
per cent of the homes where divorce occurs. 

One of the points in community life where religious influence 

is greatest (see page 5) is in connection with the institution 

of the family. In the early days of the Christian 

. -11 J • Religious 

Church marriage was considered as a sacred rite influence 

and was wholly under the control of the Church, in family 

Once entered into, it could not be dissolved. The 

Roman and Greek Catholic Churches still look upon it in this 

way, so that divorce rarely occurs among their members. A 



126 COMMUNITY CIVICS 

religious view of marriage is by no means absent among Chris- 
tians of Protestant denominations, nor among other religious 
sects, such as the Jews. It is customary for the maTriage 
ceremony to be performed by a clergyman, and the Church 
usually frowns upon divorce even if it does not forbid it as does 
the Roman Catholic Church. In any case, the religious view 
of marriage as a sacred institution is one of the most powerful 
influences for the stability of the home. 

But marriage is no longer entirely under the control of the 
Church. It is regulated by civil law. Unless religious views 
The family prevent it, as in the case of Roman Catholics, 
under civil persons may be married by a justice of the peace, 
*^ or other civil magistrate ; and in any case, the civil 

law requires that certain conditions shall be fulfilled before 
marriage is permitted. Thus, the contracting parties must have 
reached a prescribed age, and a license to marry must be ob- 
tained from the proper legal authorities. It is the civil law, also, 
that permits and regulates divorce. Since marriage and 
divorce are regulated by state law, and not by national law, 
there is great variation in the effectiveness of the regulation in 
the different states. Some states are very lax in the matter. 
It is believed that one step necessary to secure greater stability 
in family life in the United States is to secure closer agreement 
among the states with respect to these laws, as well as greater 
care in their enforcement. 

What is the legal age for marriage in your state? What other require- 
ments must be met in your state before a young man and young woman may 
be married? 

Where does one go, in your city, to obtain a marriage license? Why 
should a marriage license be required? 

Look in your daily paper for a list of marriage licenses issued. Why 
is such a list published? If you were a newspaper reporter, where would 
you obtain such a list? 

What other "statistics" are pubhshed in your daily paper, probably in 
the same column with the list of marriage licenses? Why are these called 
"vital statistics"? 



THE COMMUNITY AND THE HOME 



127 



When a marriage is performed there must be witnesses. Why is this? 
Do the witnesses and the clergyman who performs the marriage have to 
sign anything? What do they sign, and why? 

Why would greater uniformity in the marriage and divorce laws of the 
several states tend to create greater stability of the family? 

If uniformity of such laws is desirable, why does not the national govern- 
ment control the matter instead of leaving it to the several states? 

What does "civil" law mean? What other kinds of law are there? 




A Tenement Home Occupation 
Making artificial flowers 

The most important thing, however, is to remove, as far^ as 

possible, the causes that produce unhappy homes. Bad housing 

conditions are one of these ; but there are many q^^^^^ of 

others. Home life has been seriously affected by unhappy 

1 . ., homes 

great changes that have occurred m community 

life, and this is especially true in cities. In the early days of our 

nation, occupations were largely carried on in the home,^ and 

were largely a family enterprise. The invention of machinery 

changed all this. It caused the growth of factories where men 

work from early morning until late in the day to support their 

families. In large cities business and professional men are 

also away from home all day. Fathers thus often have little 



128 COMMUNITY CIVICS 

chance to get really acquainted with their families, especially 
their children. Even more serious is the fact that the modern 
industrial system makes possible, and the increasing difficulty 
of supporting a family often requires, the entrance of women, 
and even of children, into occupations outside of the home. 
Of course, such conditions do not necessarily cause unhappy 
homes ; but they disturb home life to a greater or less extent, 
and sometimes disastrously. If the occupations in which the 
members of the family are engaged, especially those of the 
women and the children, are such as to be physically or mentally 
exhausting, or a drain upon the health, the best home life is 
practically impossible. 

City life has brought with it other conditions that tend to 
disturb home life, among those who are well-to-do quite as 
Effect of life much as among the less prosperous. The fact, 
in cities referred to earlier in this chapter, that many agen- 

cies exist to relieve the home of its responsibility in many 
things, leads in this direction. Where children, for example, are 
relieved of the necessity or the " opportunity of sharing in the 
responsibility of housekeeping tasks, they lose valuable expe- 
rience in matters pertaining to home-making. The numerous 
opportunities for amusement and recreation afforded by the 
city have their good side ; but they may, and often do, take the 
interest, not only of children but also of their elders, away from 
the home. The city offers many and varied temptations to 
dissipation, which is always destructive of the well-being of 
the home. 

Cities and states have a variety of laws to control vice and 
immorality; to regulate amusements; to prohibit or regulate 
Laws that child labor ; to protect the health of men and 
safeguard women while at work; to prevent accidents to 
the home workers ; to prohibit the employment of women in 

certain kinds of occupations ; to limit the length of the working 
day; to regulate the ''sweat shop" ; to provide a living wage ; 



THE COMMUNITY AND THE HOME 



129 



to provide for mothers' pensions, and other forms of "social 
insurance." The importance of such laws lies largely in the 
protection they give to the home. The school also has a great 
responsibility both for the training of home-makers and for the 
creation of ideals among young citizens that will protect the 
home both now and later. 

It needs to be remembered that the home exists primarily 
for the children ; its greatest service is in the rearing of children 
in order that they may get a fair start in life for a school 
themselves, and also in order that they may be ^^ citizenship 
thoroughly efficient members of the community. The family 
has been called a " school of all the virtues " that go to make good 
citizenship. There are developed thoughtfulness for others, 
a spirit of self-sacrifice and of service for the common good, 
loyalty to the group, respect for the opinions of others of long 
experience, a spirit of team work, obedience to rules that exist 
for the welfare of all. If these things are not cultivated 
in the home, it is not in a healthy condition nor performing its 
proper service to the community. 

The exercise of these virtues in the home is not only training 
for good citizenship ; it is good citizenship. If the home is as 
important a factor in our national life as this chapter has indi- 
cated., then one of the greatest opportunities for good citizen- 
ship, and one of the greatest duties of good citizenship, is that of 
making the home what it should be. In this each member of the 
family has his or her share of responsibility. 

In what ways has household work been relieved of its drudgery since 
your mothers were girls? 

What labor-saving devices have been introduced in your home? 

Make a report on labor-saving devices for the household (see references). 

What are some labor-saving household devices that could be made by 
boys and girls? Can your school help in such projects? 

How may laws regulating or abolishing the liquor traffic affect the home? 
Laws regulating gambling? 

What laws exist in your community to regulate amusements? How do 
these affect the home? 



I30 COMMUNITY CIVICS 

What is a "sweat shop"? Do sweat shops exist in your city? Are they 
regulated? In what ways do they affect home life? 

What is a "living wage"? 

In what ways does your school train home makers? 

Write a theme on "Citizenship in the home." 

Make a report on the importance of the home in rural life in America (see 
Community Civics and Rural Life, chaps, ix and x). 

READINGS 

Lessons in Community and National Life: 

Series C: Lesson 20, "The Family and Social Control." 
Lesson 32, "Housing for Workers." 

For an extensive list of titles of publications relating to the home, send to the 
United States Bureau of Education for its Bulletin, 1919, No. 46, "Bibliography of 
Home Economics," especially section viii on "The Family," and section x on "The 
House and Household Activities." Among the many titles given in this are : 

Earle, Alice Morse, Home Life in Colonial Days (Macmillan). 

Gillette, J. M., The Family and Society (A. C. McClurg). 

Thwing and Butler, The Family (Lothrop, Lee and Shepard Co.). 

Gilman, Charlotte P., The Home (Doubleday, Page and Co.). 
. Talbot and Breckenridge, The Modern Household (Whitcomb and Barrows, Boston) . 

Addams, Jane, The Spirit of Youth and the City Streets (Macmillan). 

Ellwood, Charles A., Sociology and Modern Social Problems, chapters on the family 
(American Book Co.). 

Scott, Rhea, Home Labor-Saving Devices (Lippincott) . 
Pamphlets published by the National Housing Association, 105 East 22nd St., 
New York. For example: 

What bad housing means to the community. 

One million people in small houses. 

Industrial housing. 

The districting of cities ("zoning"). 

Organizing the housing work of a community. 
Pamphlets published by the American Civic Association, Union Trust Building, 
Washington, D. C: 

City planning. 

A good home for every wage earner. 

What makes a town good. 
The American City Bureau, 154 Nassau St., New York City. Write for publications 

on housing, etc. 
Nolen, John: New Ideals in the Planning of Cities, Towns, and Villages. (American 

City Bureau, New York.) 
Towne, E. T.: Social Problems (Macmillan); chap, xii, Marriage and Divorce. 
Burch and Patterson, American Social Problems (Macmillan), chap, xxii. The 
Problem of Divorce. 



CHAPTER X 

EDUCATION AND THE COMMUNITY 

Both the efficiency and the democracy of a community de- 
pend upon the extent and the kind of education it affords to 
its people. In a nation whose aim is to afford to T^ 

. . Democracy 

every citizen an equal opportunity to make the depends upon 
most of himself and whose people are self-govern- ®*^"<^^*^°° 
ing, education must be widespread, it must develop the power 
of self-direction, it must train leaders, and it must enable the 
people to choose their leaders intelligently. When Governor 
Berkeley of Virginia reported to the king of England in 1671, 
"I thank God there are no free schools nor printing; and I hope 
we shall not have these hundred years," he spoke for the auto- 
cratic form of government which a hundred years later led the 
colonies to revolt. 

In a democracy government must be carried on largely hy 
means of education. We had abundant illustration during the 
recent war of the extent to which our government Government 
not only depended upon highly educated men and by means of 
women for leadership, but also educated the people ^^^^^^^^ 
to do the things necessary to win the war. (For illustrations, 
see pp. 89-91.) Since the aim of democratic government is to 
secure team work in public affairs, the people must have the 
tools of team work, such as a common language, and other 
knowledge that makes living and working together possible; 
they must have training that will enable them to contribute 
effectively to the community's work, and to understand the 
community's aims and ideals. And since government is con- 

131 



132 



COMMUNITY CIVICS 



trolled largely by public opinion, the people must have an 
intelligent understanding of the community's problems. 

These facts explain why public education is the largest single 
item of expense in our government (except in time of war). In 
The cost of 1 914 nearly 600 million dollars were spent for public 
education elementary and high schools. Some 200 million 
dollars more were spent for private schools, and for universities, 




A Pioneer Schoolhouse (1828) 



colleges, and normal schools, some of which are public and some 
private. 

If democracy is to be safe and efhcient, every member must 
have a reasonable amount of education. Every state has a 
Inequality of compulsory education law, though these laws vary 
educational greatly. In some states every child must attend 
requiremen s g^j^^^j £qj. ggyen years (7 to 14, or 8 to 15). In other 
states the period is less, sometimes as little as four years. In 
most of the states there is an additional period, usually of two 
years (14 to 16), during which children must remain in school 
unless they go to work. As a rule there are laws that forbid the 



EDUCATION AND THE COMMUNITY 



^33 



employment of children in industry before the age of 14. In 
some states they may go to work as soon as they reach the age 
limit regardless of what their educational qualifications are; 
in others they must have completed the eight grades of the 
elementary school; in others they need only to be able to read 
and write; in still others they must have finished the third, 
fourth, or other grades, as the case may be. In Massachusetts 
pupils must remain in school until they have completed the- 
fourth grade, and in New York until they can read and write, 
even if they remain until they are 21 to do it. 

The length of the school term required by law varies from 
three months in three states to nine months in six states. Several 
states have no requirement in this matter. The inequality of 
length of time that a pupil must be in school during educational 
each of the compulsory years varies from sixty °pp°^ ^^^ ^ 
days to the full school term, whatever that may be. In most 
states, but not in all, the required attendance must be during 
consecutive days or weeks. The compulsory school laws are 
not well enforced in some states. The table on page 134 shows 
the number of children of school age in and out of school in the 
several states in 1915-1916. For the country as a whole, 17.4 
per cent of the children of school age were not in school. 

"School terms are so short in many states and compulsory 
attendance is so badly enforced that the school life of the average 
person growing up in rural sections is only 4.5 school years of 
140 days each. In urban communities conditions are better, 
but far from satisfactory." ^ 

The table on page 135 shows the number of days the public 
schools were open, the average number of days of attendance by 
each pupil enrolled, and the rank of the state in each case, for 
each state in the school year 1915-1916. 

1 Bulletin, 1919, No. 4, U.S. Bureau of Education, "A Manual of Educational 
Legislation," p. 6. 



134 



COMMUNITY CIVICS 



School Year and Attendance 

Average number of days public schCKjls were kept open, average number of days of attendance 
by each pupil enrolled, and average per cent of attendance in each state in 191 5-16 * 



Location 



Alabama 

Arizona 

Arkansas ....... 

California 

Colorado 

Connecticut 

Delaware 

Florida ........ 

Georgia 

Idaho 

Illinois 

Indiana 

Iowa 

Kansas 

Kentucky 

Louisiana 

Maine ........ 

Maryland ....... 

Massachusetts 

Michigan 

Minnesota^ 

Mississippi 

Missouri 

Montana 

Nebraska 

Nevada 

New Hampshire 

New Jersey 

New Mexico 

New York . _ 

North Carolina .... 

North Dakota 

Ohio 

Oklahoma 

Oregon . . 

Pennsylvania 

Rhode Island 

South Carolina 

South Dakota 

Tennessee 

Texas 

Utah 

Vermont 

Virginia 

Washington 

West Virginia 

Wisconsin 

Wyoming 

United States (continental) 



Days Schools 
Were Open 



Rank Number 



38 
28 
39 



40 
37 
30 
23 
29 

19 

24 

34 

39 

17 

6 

5 
15 
20 

43 
27 

7 
25 
22 
16 

4 
35 

2 

41 
14 

9 
32 
33 
13 

I 

44 
19 
42 
38 
26 
10 
36 
II 
38 
12 
31 



I3S-0 
160.0 

134-9 
176.0 
167.0 
183.2 
170.7 
130.1 
136.7 
^ 154-9 
164.0 
155-0 
170.0 

163-7 
144.0 

134-9 
171. 2 
178.0 
181. 7 

1 172.0 
167.7 

2 123.0 
161.8 
176.7 

163-5 
166. 1 

171-5 
1 183.0 
142.5 
190.2 
124.2 
1 172.6 

175-3 
152.0 
151-0 
172.7 

194-3 
108.5 
170.0 
123-8 
135-0 
163.0 
I75-0 
141. o 
174.6 
I35-0 
173-7 
IS3-0 



160.3 



Days Attended 



Average Per Cent Rank 



107.3 

91.7 

134.0 

122.0 

142.5 

93-5 

94-7 

98.9 

105.2 

147-3 
127.4 
128.8 
126.5 
95-0 
99-4 
133-8 
124.0 
153-0 
139-9 
127.3 

275-4 
118.5 
129.4 

3 120.8 
124.9 
138.5 
142.9 
95-0 
154-3 
85-4 
II9-5 
148.9 

95-9 
135-4 
139-1 
154-8 

72.9 
118.9 

87-3 

91.8 

132.5 

140.2 

98.4 

136.2 

96-3 
140.9 
117. o 



120.9 



62.9 
67.1 

168.0 
76.2 
73-1 
77-8 
54-8 
72.8 
69.0 

1 72.0 
89.8 
82.2 
75-8 
77-3 
65-9 
73-7 
78.2 
69-7 
84.2 
81.3 
75-9 

261.3 
73-2 
73-2 
73-9 
75-2 
80.8 
78.1 
66.7 
81.1 
68.7 
69.2 
84-9 
63.1 
89-7 
80.6 
79-7 
67.1 
70.0 
70.5 
68.0 
81.2 
80.1 
69-8 
78.0 

71-3 
81.0 

76.5 



75-5 



* From statistics, U. S. Bureau of Education, 
^ Statistics, 1913-14. s Estimated, 



1 Statistics, 1914-15. 



EDUCATION AND THE COMMUNITY 



135 



Children In and Out of School 

(U. S. Bureau of Education, statistics, 191 5-16) 







Number 


Per Cent 


Number 


Per Cent 


Number 


Per Cent 


Location 


Rank 


IN Public 
Schools 


IN Public 
Schools 


IN 

Private 
Schools 


IN 

Private 
Schools 


NOT IN 

School 


NOT IN 

School 


Alabama . . 


43 


514,601 


69.1 


17,187 


2.5 


208,815 


28.4 


Arizona . . . 


14 


51,077 


81.7 


3,367 


5-4 


8,164 


12.9 


Arkansas . . 


24 


447,726 


82.0 


6,133 


I.I 


92,240 


16.9 


California . . 


— 


539,688 


— 


33,000 


— 


— 


— 


Colorado . . 


20 


184,471 


82.0 


7,000 


3-1 


33,651 


14.9 


Connecticut 


— 


234,609 


82.1 


52,293 




1,419 




Delaware . . 


2 


45,327 


85.9 


5,000 


9-5 


2,442 


4.6 


Florida . . . 


28 


198,365 


77.2 


8,500 


3-3 


49,657 


195 


Georgia 




41 


667,635 


73-2 


10,000 


I.I 


234,592 


25-7 


Idaho 




IS 


95,772 


84.7 


2,500 


2.2 


14,832 


131 


Illinois 




19 


1,084,640 


71.8 


213,760 


14.0 


215,730 


14.2 


Indiana 




18 


564,252 


80.2 


40,000 


5-7 


99,389 


14.1 


Iowa . 




I 


525,579 


90.0 


42,000 


7.2 


15,699 


2.8 


Kansas 




17 


402,860 


83.3 


16,051 


3-3 


64,820 


13-4 


Kentucky . . 


26 


537,008 


76.8 


33,352 


4.8 


129,016 


18.4 


Louisiana . . 


45 


320,400 


55-7 


38,159 


6.7 


214,412 


37-6 


Maine . . . 


3 


149,149 


84-3 


17,207 


9.8 


10,467 


5-9 


Maryland . . 


7 


243,077 


68.0 


30,000 


23.6 


84,387 


8.4 


Massachusetts 


12 


604,023 


72.8 


122,000 


14.7 


104,092 


12.5 


Michigan . . 


6 


620,861 


82.8 


72,982 


9-5 


57,651 


7-7 


Minnesota . . 


21 


481,583 


78.0 


38,000 


6.2 


97,733 


15.8 


Mississippi . . 


31 


492,756 


77.6 


7,500 


I.I 


135,014 


21.3 


Missouri . . 


10 


721,752 


81.0 


65,000 


7-4 


103,438 


11.6 


Montana . . 


— 


102,768 


— 


7,000 






— 


Nebraska . . 


II 


292,725 


84.8 


12,000 


3-5 


40,326 


11.7 


Nevada . . . 


35 


13,358 


76.3 


309 


1-7 


3,848 


22.0 


New Hampshire 


9 


67,461 


68.7 


21,689 


22.0 


9,042 


9.3 


New Jersey 


23 


540,287 


76.4 


48,000 


6.8 


118,942 


16.8 


New Mexico . 


44 


77,062 


64.8 


5,589 


4-7 


36,290 


30.S 


New York . . 


27 


1,625,777 


69-5 


278,000 


11.8 


432,388 


18.7 


North Carolina 


13 


640,246 


84.0 


25,000 


3-2 


87,994 


12.8 


North Dakota . 


40 


151,647 


73 -o 


3,500 


1.6 


52,864 


25-4 


Ohio .... 


22 


905,071 


74-3 


120,000 


9.8 


192,474 


15-9 


Oklahoma . . 


32 


515,493 


76.4 


14,915 


2.2 


145,190 


21.4 


Oregon . . . 


25 


142,365 


77.6 


7,794 


4.2 


33,286 


18.2 


Pennsylvania . 


30 


1,504,794 


70.8 


180,000 


8.5 


438,892 


20.7 


Rhode Island . 


34 


89,879 


63.2 


21,646 


15-2 


30,627 


21.6 


South Carolina 


33 


415,766 


76.6 


10,000 


1-9 


116,817 


21.S 


South Dakota . 


42 


134,136 


69-5 


4,500 


2.2 


54,771 


28.3 


Tennessee . . 


4 


610,235 


88.8 


27,000 


4.0 


49,752 


7.2 


Texas . . . 


39 


1,017,083 


73 -o 


28,000 


2.0 


343,143 


25-0 


Utah .... 


8 


108,359 


86.0 


7,000 


5-4 


10,699 


8.6 


Vermont . . 


16 


65,380 


77-3 


8,000 


9-4 


11,289 


13-3 


Virginia . . . 


38 


486,134 


73-1 


17,568 


2.6 


172,014 


24-3 


Washington 


37 


245,419 


73-0 


10,261 


3-0 


80,468 


24.0 


West Virginia . 


29 


313,873 


78.2 


4,839 


1-3 


82,407 


20.5 


Wisconsin . . 


36 


458,102 


66.8 


70,000 


10.2 


158,244 


23.0 


Wyoming . . 


S 


32,630 


88.0 


1,600 


4.4 


2,831 


7.6 


United 


States 


— 


20,351,687 


75-8 


1,820,210 


6.8 


4,675,079 


17.4 



136 COMMUNITY CIVICS 

Why would it not be more democratic to permit children to attend 
school or not as they or their parents wish? 

Discuss the statement that "education makes people free." Compare 
this statement with a somewhat similar statement made on page 112. 

What is the compulsory school age in your state? 

Is wide variation in the compulsory school age among the different 
states a good thing? Why? 

Is the compulsory school law rigidly enforced in your state? How is it 
enforced? 

How much of each year must a child spend in school during the com- 
pulsory period in your state? 

Investigate the reasons given by pupils in your community for leaving 
school before completing the course, and report. 

What rank does your state hold with respect to length of term? to average 
daily attendance of pupils? (See table.) 

What rank does your state hold with respect to number of children of 
school age in and out of school? (See table.) 

Get from your teacher or principal the average daily attendance for 
each pupil enrolled in your school; in your city. Do you think this record 
could be improved? 

It is advocated by many that schools should be open the year round. 
What advantages can you see in the plan? Debate the question. 

Public education was long restricted to the elementary school. 
High schools were at first private academies designed to prepare 
Development ^^^ college the few who wished to continue their 
of the education. While they still continue to give prepa- 

g sc 00 _ ration for college, their development in recent 
years has been largely for the benefit of the greater number of 
boys and girls who do not expect to go to college. Attendance 
at high school has rapidly increased in recent years. The high 
school not only affords to those who attend a better equipment 
for their life's work, but it also attracts the more ambitious 
young citizens who have a desire and the ability to assume places 
of leadership in the community. 

What has been the history of high school development in your community? 
What percentage of pupils in your community go to high school after 
completing the» elementary school? 



EDUCATION AND THE COMMUNITY 



137 



Write a theme or prepare an address on "What the high school does for 
my community." Or, "My reasons for going (or not going) to high school." 

What is the cost per pupil in the high school in your community as com- 
pared with that in the elementary school? 

Education must not only be within the reach of every citizen 
of a democracy, but it must be of a kind that will fit him to play 
well his part as a member of the community. 




Jordan High School, Salt Lake City, Utah 

The public schools now give more attention than formerly 
to the physical education and welfare of the pupils. The wide 
prevalence of physical defects disclosed in the Education 
effort to raise an army during the recent war has for physical 
emphasized the importance of this aspect of edu- 
cation. Physical fitness is the foundation of good citizenship. 
Our nation can be neither efficient nor fully democratic until 
the physical well-being of all its citizens is provided for, and the 
responsibility rests largely with the public school. 

Investigations have shown an alarming number of physical 
defects among school children. Of 330,179 school children 
examined at one time in New York City, for example, 70 



138 



COMMUNITY CIVICS 



per cent were found to have such defects. New York City is 
by no means exceptional in this respect. In fact, figures seem 
Physical de- to show that such defects are even more numer- 
schoor°^°^^ ous in small, places and rural communities than in 
children large cities. This, however, is doubtless because 

large cities have been more progressive in correcting and pre- 
venting them; for a large proportion of the defects may be 




A Modern High School Gymnasium 



corrected, and even prevented, if taken in time. They interfere 
with educational progress, reduce efficiency in later life, and 
cause loss both to the individual and to the community. 

And so we find in progressive schools many provisions for the 
physical well-being and the physical education of the pupils that 
Correction their parents did not have in their schools. More 
and preven- attention is given to the ventilation, heating, 
lighting, and sanitary arrangements of the build- 
ings, and to the kinds of seats and desks furnished. Medical 
inspection of school children is now provided in most cities, and 
in some cases school nurses also. Pupils are fitted with glasses 
when needed, and teeth defects remedied^ in dental clinics. 



EDUCATION AND THE COMMUNITY 



139 



Open-air schools are conducted for children who are not phys- 
ically robust, and suitable lunches provided for the poorly 
nourished. No school is considered really good, now, that 
does not afford ample play facihties. Instruction is given in 
matters pertaining to health and hygiene, and activities arranged 
for to help pupils in the formation of correct health habits. 




Free Medical Inspection 



Observe the kinds of defects shown in the chart of "Health Defects" on 
p^ge 140. 

If you have medical inspection in your school, what defects are most 
commonly found? Compare with those shown in the chart. What percent- 
age of pupils in your school have such defects? How many of these defects 
are preventable? By what means? 

How is medical inspection conducted in your city schools? Who sends the 
inspectors? Who pays for them? To what extent do the homes of the 
community cooperate with the schools and the health inspectors in getting 
results from the inspection? What kind of cooperation is given? 

What other provisions are made in your school for the physical well-being 
of the pupils? What can you say about the ventilation, heating, lighting, 
seating, of your school in their relation to the health and comfort of the pupils? 

If the law requires school attendance, why should it also require good 
health conditions in the school? 



140 



COMMUNITY CIVICS 




Health Defects 

City children and country children compared, percentage average of all 
available statistics. Note that the better showing of city children is not due, 
necessarily, to their superiority over country children, but to the better care taken 
of them by the community. 



To what extent is irregular attendance in your school due to illness? To 
what extent is this illness unnecessary? 

Who is responsible for the health conditions in your school? What can 
you do about correcting improper provision for health in the school? 

What health habits is your school helping you to form? How does it help 
you to form them? How do you cooperate in the matter? 



EDUCATION AND THE COMMUNITY 



141 



What volunteer agencies in your community cooperate with your school 
for the promotion of health education? Do you belong to any such organiza- 
tion? If so, describe its work. 




The Lunch of Milk in a School 

FOR Tubercular Children 

Good air, sunlight, warm clothing, frequent nourishment 

It is a part of the business of education to fit every citizen 
to earn a living, for every efficient citizen must be self-supporting 
and able to contribute effectively to the productive Education for 
work of the community. The interdependence of vocational 
all occupations in modern industry and the neces- 
sity for every worker to be a specialist make training essential 
for every worker who is to attain success for himself and con- 
tribute his full share to the community's work (see Chapter 
XVI). 

The recent war emphasized strongly the nation's dependence 
upon trained workers in every field of industry. One of the direct 



142 COMMUNITY CIVICS 

results was the passage by Congress, in 191 7, of the Smith- 
Hughes Act, providing for national aid for vocational instruc- 
National aid ^^^^ ^^^ persons over 14 years of age who have 
for vocational already entered upon, or are preparing to enter, 
some trade. Every state in the Union has met 
the conditions imposed by this law. 

The Smith-Hughes Act created a Federal Board for Vocational Education 
to consist of the Secretaries of the Departments of Agriculture, Commerce, 
and Labor, the United States Commissioner of Education, and three citizens 
appointed by the President, one to represent labor interests, one commercial 
and manufacturing interests, and the third agricultural interests. The law 
appropriates national funds to be given to the state for the establishment 
of vocational schools and for the training of teachers for these schools; 
but each state must appropriate an amount equal to that received from the 
national government. Each state must also have a board for vocational 
education, through which the national board has its dealings with the state. 

It is not the duty of the regular elementary and high schools, 
however, to cultivate special vocational skills; not to turn out 
Breadth of trained farmers, or mechanics, and so on. But 
for vo^cational ^^^ work of these schools should be such that 
life their graduates will be better farmers, or mechanics, 

or lawyers, or doctors, or engineers, or teachers, than they would 
be without it. First of all, these schools should produce workers 
who are physically fit for the work they enter. They should 
educate the hand and the eye along with the brain. They 
should cultivate habits of working together, give instruction 
regarding the significance of all work in community and national 
life, and by every means possible prepare the pupil to make a 
wise choice of vocation. Moreover, the schools should provide 
a breadth of education that will help to "transmute days of 
dreary work into happier lives." 

The life we live, whether on the farm or in the city, is full of 
Making life science and history, civics and economics, arith- 
educational metic and geography, poetry and art. The modern 
school helps the pupil to find these things in his daily life 



EDUCATION AND THE COMMUNITY 



143 



and, having found them, to apply them to living for his profit 
and enjoyment. A recent writer has said, 

What is the true end of American education? Is it life or a living? . . . 
Education finds itself face to face with a bigger thing than life or the getting 
of a living. It is face to face with a big enough thing to die for in France, 
a big enough thing to go to school for in America. . . . Neither life nor 
the getting of a living, but living together, this must be the single public end 
of a common public education hereafter.^ 




Domestic Science in a High School 



The more nearly the conditions of living in the school com- 
munity correspond to the conditions of living in the community 
outside of school, the better the training afforded Education 
for living together. In many schools the spirit and for living 
methods of community life prevail, even to the °^^ 
extent of school government in which the pupils participate. 

Of this community pupils and teachers are members with certain common 
interests. Cooperation is the keynote of the community life. The realiza- 
tion of this cooperation is seen in the classrooms, in study halls, in the assem- 
bly room, in the corridors, on the playground. It manifests itself in the 
method of preparing and conducting recitations; in the care of school 

^ D. R. Sharp, "Patrons of Democracy," in Atlantic Monthly, November, 1919, 
p. 650. 



144 



COMMUNITY CIVICS 



property; in protecting the rights of younger children; in maintaining the 
sanitary conditions of the building and grounds; in the ehmination of 
cases of "discipline" and of irregularity of attendance; in the preparation 




A City School Used as a Community Center 

A community assembly at the Park View School, Washington, D.C. An election 
of community officers is being held. Note the boy scouts and the baseball team, both 
identified with this center, on the stage. 

and conduct of opening exercises, school entertainments, and graduating 
exercises; in beautifying the school grounds; in the making of repairs and 
equipment for "our school"; in fact, in every aspect of the school life.^ 
What schools in your city, if any, come under the operation of the Smith- 
Hughes Act? How much money do they receive yearly from the national 
government? For what vocations do they prepare? Describe the work of 
these schools and show how it differs from the work of other schools. 



^ " Civic Education in Elementary Schools,' 
Education Bulletin, 1915, No, 17, 



p. 31, United States Bureau of 



EDUCATION AND THE COMMUNITY 145 

Find out what you can about your state board for vocational education. 
How much money does it receive from the national government? Are the 
vocational schools operated under this law popular? "Why does the national 
government require the state to contribute at least an equal amount to 
that given by it? Do you think this is a good arrangement? Why? 

What does your school do (if not a Smith-Hughes Act school) to fit you 
for vocational life? 

Discuss the meaning of the statement that "it is not the duty of the 
regular elementary and high schools to cultivate special vocational skills." 

To what extent does your school "make life educational"? 

What is the meaning of the statement that the true end of education is 
"neither life nor the getting of a living, but living together"? 

In what respects does "community life" within your school differ from 
that outside of school? What differences and similarities exist between the 
government of your school and that of the community outside of school? 
In what respects do you think they should be more alike? 

Look up different plans of pupil participation in school government (see 
Readings). Are you in favor of any of these plans? Why? 

Are schoolhouses in your city used as "community centers"? If so, 
what is done in these centers? If not, do you think they should be? Why? 

Report on the organization and value of the community center (see 
Readings). 

What is done in your community for the education of adults? 

Are there any "part-time schools" in your city? What does this mean? 

Report on the public library as an educational institution. 

What other educational institutions are there in your city? 

What are some of the greatest needs of your city schools at the present 
time? Why have they not been promptly provided for? 

The pioneer family was dependent at first upon its own efforts 
for the education of its children. When other families came, 
a schoolhouse was built, a teacher employed, and The district 
the work of teaching the elements of knowledge school 
was handed over to the school. This was the origin of the 
"district school," which is characteristic of pioneer conditions. 
As the population grew and local government was organized, 
the unit of local government tended to become the unit for 
school administration. In New England this was the "town" 
or township; in the South it was the county; in the West it 



146 COMMUNITY CIVICS 

was sometimes the township and sometimes the county, or 
else a combination of the two. In a large number of the western 
states, however, and in a few of the eastern states, the district 
school persists in many rural communities, a relic of pioneer 
conditions. It is often felt that it is more democratic for each 
district to administer its own school, subject only to the laws 
of the state. 

The chief advantages of the township organization over the 
district system are that all the schools of the township are 
Township administered by a single plan, the taxes are appor- 
organization tioned to the schools according to needs, and pupils 
may be transferred from one school to another at convenience. 
In New England two or three townships are sometimes united 
into a ''union district" supervised by a single superintendent. 

Under the county organization all the schools of the county are 
under the management of a county board and, usually, a county 
County superintendent, who is elected by the people, or 

organization appointed by the county board, the governor, or 
the state commissioner of education. Election of the county 
superintendent by the people is losing favor on the ground that 
there is less assurance of securing a highly trained leader. 

Among the advantages of the county system are greater 
economy, more nearly equal educational opportunity for all 
Advantages children of the county, and better supervision 

of school because of the larger funds available for this pur- 

consolidation T^ • 1 ^1 ^ ^ r 

pose. It IS under the county system 01 organiza- 
tion that the movement for school consolidation is progressing 
most rapidly. By this is meant the union of a number of small, 
poorly equipped schools into a larger, well-graded, and well- 
equipped school. Its advantages may best be suggested by an 
example. 

In Randolph County, Indiana, there were, in 1908, 128 one-room schools 
in the open country, with an attendance of from 12 to 60 pupils doing 
grade work only; 6 two-room schools in hamlets, with grade work only; 2 



EDUCATION AND THE COMMUNITY 147 

three-room schools in villages, with grade work and two years of high school 
work with a six months' term; 3 four-room village schools, with grade 
work and three years of high school work with a six months' term; i six- 
room school in a town, with grade work and four years of high school work 
with an eight months' term. 

By consolidation, 113 one-room schools and 4 two-room schools were 
supplanted by 20 consolidated schools with two grade teachers; 6 with four 
grade teachers; 6 with five grade teachers; 2 with six grade teachers; and 
I with eight grade teachers — a total of 86 grade teachers doing the work 
formerly done by 148 teachers, and doing it better. Fifteen of the schools 
have a four-year high school course with an eight months' term. For the 
five-year period preceding consolidation not more than half of the eighth- 
grade pupils attended high school; after consolidation an average of 96 
per cent of the eighth-grade pupils went to high school. 

The pupils are transported to and from school in hacks or motor-busses 
heated in winter. The school buildings are equipped with running water, 
modern heating and sanitation, telephone, rest rooms for pupils and teachers, 
gymnasiums and outdoor physical apparatus, physical training and athletic 
competition being carried on under supervision. The courses of study have 
been enriched, increased attention is given to vocational work, and music 
and art receive attention impossible in the district schools. Eleven of the 
schools have orchestras, and concerts are held which the community as 
well as the schools attend. There are auditoriums used for community 
lectures and concerts, Sunday-school conventions, community sings, parent- 
teachers' meetings, and exhibits of various kinds. 

Report on school life in colonial New England; in colonial Virginia. 

What were the methods of education in pioneer days in your own state 
and locality — kinds of buildings, length of school term, whether public or 
private, methods of teaching, etc.? 

What does the family do for the education of children that the school 
can not do? What does the school do that the family can not? 

Outside of the cities, do you have the "district school," the township 
organization, or the county organization of schools in your state? 

What are the advantages of graded over ungraded schools? 

Debate the question, "Resolved, that the independent district school is 
more democratic than the organization of schools on a county- wide plan." 

To what extent is school consolidation taking place in your state? in 
your county? What results has it achieved? 

What is the method of selecting the county superintendent in your state? 
Do you think it is a good method? Why? What is his term of ofi&ce? 
Does he have anything to do with your city schools? 



148 COMMUNITY CIVICS 

Do you think there should be closer cooperation between the schools of 
your city and those of the county outside of the city? Why? 

Because conditions in the city are so different from those in 
rural communities, city school systems are usually entirely 
City school independent of the school system of the county in 
systems which they are located. Cities acquire this power 

to manage their own schools from the state, either through the 
city charter or special school laws. 

Every city has its hoard of education, usually elected by the 
people, sometimes appointed by the mayor or council (in Wash- 
The board of ington by the Supreme Court of the District of 
education Columbia). Boards of education vary greatly in 
size, but there is a tendency toward the small board of about 
seven members. In most cities the boards serve without pay. 
In most cities, also, they are quite independent of the regular 
financial authorities of the city government, having power given 
to them by the state to levy taxes and make appropriations for 
school purposes. This, however, is not true in all cities; in 
New York City, for example, the board of education merely 
submits its needs to the hoard of estimate of the city, which levies 
the taxes and makes appropriations for all city purposes, includ- 
ing education. In practically every city the board of education 
appoints the superintendent of schools, who is the trained director 
of the work of the schools, which is carried on under him by 
assistant superintendents, supervisors of special subjects and 
activities, principals, and teachers. 

Where the management of a school system fails to work 

smoothly, it is often because of failure to distinguish clearly 

Relation be- between the proper duties of a board of education 

tween board ^^d those of the superintendent. The board of 

of education . ^ 

and superin- education corresponds to the board of directors of 

tendent g^ business corporation (see page 287). It represents 

the citizens, who correspond to the stockholders of the business 

corporation. It is the business of the board of education, acting 



EDUCATION AND THE COMMUNITY 149 

as the representatives of the citizens, to determine the general 
policies to be followed by the school system, just as the board 
of directors, acting as the representatives of the stockholders, 
determine the policies of the business corporation. For the 
execution of these policies the board of directors depends upon a 
trained manager whom they employ for that purpose. In the 
same way the board of education employs a superintendent who 
is, or should be, an expert in educational matters, and upon whom 
the board should depend for the actual management of the 
schools. 

The representatives of the people cannot perform directly the large 
duties of carrying on the school system. They must employ technically 
trained officers to conduct the schools. To these technically trained officers 
they must look for proper information on which to base their decisions, and 
they must be prepared to intrust to those officers the powers and responsi- 
bilities which attach to the daily conduct of school work. . . . 

No board member should teach classes. No board member should act as 
principal of 'a school. No board member should negotiate with a publisher 
of textbooks, nor should he pass on the availabiUty of a given book for use in 
a school. No board member should examine teachers with a view to deter- 
mining their quahfications for appointment. No board member should plan 
a school building. No board member should write the course of study. ... 
It is the duty of the members of the board to see that technical officers do 
the work of the system, but the board should not do this work itself. It is 
a pubHc board, created to see that a certain piece of pubhc work is done, 
not a group of technical officers created to do the work.^ 

There are many cities, however, where boards of education 
attempt to do just such things as these, and make of their super- 
intendents little more than clerks. This illustrates importance 
one of the present weaknesses in our democratic of trained 
government. In our zeal to govern ourselves, either 
directly or through our representatives, we often overlook the 
necessity for trained leadership and direction. We want democ- 
racy, but we want efficient democracy; and this can be obtained 

1 Report of the Committee on the Relation between Boards of Education and 
Superintendents, Department of Superintendence, National Education Association. 



150 COMMUNITY CIVICS 

only by placing confidence in trained leaders to do our technical 
work for us. 

Describe the administrative organization of your own school. What does 
this mean? 

Give illustrations to show how the principal of your school secures 
cooperation among the various rooms of the school. How the superin- 
tendent secures cooperation among the several schools of the city. 

What is the purpose of a parent-teacher association? If there are such 
associations in your city, what do they do? 

To whom is the janitor of your school responsible? Is this as it should 
be? Why? 

In the quotation given above, it is stated that "no board member should 
plan a school building." What reason could be given for this? 

How are teachers appointed in your city? What qualifications are 
required for appointment? 

How are textbooks selected in your school? Give arguments for and 
against state adoption of textbooks. 

Is there a clear distinction between the duties of the superintendent and 
those of the board of education in your city? Give illustrations to prove 
your answer. 

What are the duties of the board of education in your city? Of the 
superintendent of schools? Of the principal of your school? 

How is your city board of education chosen? Who are its members? Their 
term of office? Are they paid or unpaid? If paid, how much? 

Give arguments for election of the board by the people; for appointment 
by the head of the city government or by a court; for and against a large 
board; for a paid board; for an unpaid board. 

What is the rate of school tax in your city? Who fixes this rate? Is there 
a limit to the tax that may be levied for school purposes? What is the 
limit, if any? Who fixes the limit? Why is such a limit desirable? 

How is money raised for school buildings? Why is this method used for 
this purpose, and not for paying teachers? 

The schools of the local community are a part of the state 
school system. Education is considered a duty of the state, 
State organ- though it is administered largely by local officers, 
ization for The constitutions of all states make provision for it. 
State control and support of education are necessary 
if there is to be equality of educational opportunity for all chil- 



EDUCATION AND THE COMMUNITY 



151 



dren of the state. Every state has a department of education, 
and in most states each local community receives a portion of a 
general state tax for school purposes. The state departments of 




State Education BunLDiNG, Albany, N.Y. 

Occupied by the officers of the State Department of Education and 
of the University of the State of New York. 

education differ widely from one another both in organization 
and in the effectiveness of their work. In most cases there is a 
state board of education, composed sometimes of certain state 
officials, including the governor and the state superintendent of 
education, sometimes of citizens appointed for this purpose 
alone by the governor or (in four states) by the legislature. In 
only one state is it elected by popular vote. In all states there 
is also a chief educational officer, usually called state superin- 
tendent or commissioner of education or of public instruction. 



152 



COMMUNITY CIVICS 



In several states women hold this position. The state super- 
intendent is sometimes elected by popular vote, sometimes 
appointed by the state board of education or by the governor. 
Under the state superintendent there are deputy superinten- 
dents, heads of departments, and supervisors of the various 
branches of educational work. 




Relation of 
state to local 
organization 



Campus of the State Agricultural College, Madison, Wisconsin 

While city schools are subject to state laws, these laws usually 
permit a much larger degree of self-management to city schools 
than to those of rural communities. While the 
county superintendent is in most cases directly 
responsible to the state superintendent, this is 
not true, as a rule, of the superintendents of large cities. Cities 
are usually allowed greater discretion in determining the course 
of study and in the choice of textbooks. 

"In extent of duties and powers" state boards of education 
"vary all the way from near zero to complete control of the state 
educational interests. The Michigan state board, outside of 
its duties in control of the state normal schools, has little power 



EDUCATION AND THE COMMUNITY 



153 



except in granting teachers' certificates; the New York state 
board has supervision of all educational agencies in the state. 
... It has been urged that the New York state Powers of the 
board is going too far in exercising supervision state board 
over private institutions. But it should be definitely under- 
stood that in a very important sense there is no such thing as a 




The University of Virginia 

One of the oldest universities in the United States, having been founded by 

Thomas Jefferson. 

private educational institution; an educational institution is by 
the nature of its function essentially public and should be 
responsive to the needs of the public which it serves. Every 
educational agency in the state is a part of the state's educa- 
tional system and should be under the general administrative 
supervision of the state board of education." ^ 

In many states there are state courses of study that are fol- 
lowed more or less closely by all schools of the state. In New 
York State the examination questions used in all schools are 
prepared by the state educational authorities. In a number of 
states there is a "state adoption" of all textbooks used in the 

^A, C. Monahan, "Organization of State Departments of Education," pp. 10, 
II. U.S. Bureau of Education Bulletin, 1915, No. 5. 



154 



COMMUNITY CIVICS 



state. Some states furnish textbooks free, and in two or three 
cases even print all textbooks. 

States have normal schools to maintain the supply of trained 
teachers for the elementary schools. High school teachers more 
Higher edu- commonly receive their training in colleges and 
universities. A number of states have state imi- 
versities and agricultural colleges at which attend- 
ance is free for citizens of the state. In some cases these higher 



cational 
institutions 





li . : ♦ 






■ ■ is-'- 


iiC3^s.±2i^¥ 


■■ 


1 - 




myr^m 



Studying Gas Engines and Automobiles in 
THE Army School 

The poUcy of our government is to train enlisted men not only for effective military 
service but also for successful civU life after their term of military service has expired. 



educational institutions are under the control of the state board 
of education, 'sometimes under that of separate boards of 
trustees. There are also state schools for defectives and delin- 
quents (see Chapter XXII). 

The first national support to public education was given by the 
Ordinance of 1787 under which the Northwest Territory was 
organized. It provided that '^religion, morality, and knowl- 
edge being necessary to good government and the happiness 



EDUCATION AND THE COMMUNITY 



155 



of mankind, schools and the means of education shall be forever 
encouraged." As new states were organized from National sup- 
this Territory and from the pubHc lands ac- port of 
quired later, grants of land were made to them 
by the national government for school purposes. 



education 

Grants of 




In a Naval Machine Shop 

The Navy has schools for its enlisted men both on land and on shipboard. As in 
the Army, the purpose is to give not only a technical training but also a broad 
education for citizenship. 

public land were also made to the states for the establishment 
of agricultural colleges, and money appropriated by Congress 
to assist the states in promoting agricultural education. 

The United States Bureau of Education, in the Department 
of the Interior, was created by Congress to promote the interests 
of education throughout the United States. To u.s. Bureau 
this end its speciahsts gather information relating °^ Education 
to the progress of education, study its problems, and publish 
numerous reports and bulletins for the information of the people 



156 



COMMUNITY CIVICS 




and the guidance of those engaged in educational work. This 
national bureau has no authority over the schools of the country, 
except those of Alaska. 

Reference has already been made (page 141) to the work of the 
Federal Board for Vocational Education. The Federal govern- 

Federal ment, through its 

educational Bureau of Indian 
Affairs in the Depart- 
ment of the Interior, conducts 
schools for the Indians on their 
reservations. It conducts a naval 
academy at Annapolis, Md., and 
a military academy at West Point, 
N.Y., for the training of officers in 
army and navy. Under the United 
States Shipping Board there are 
training schools for men desiring 
to enter our enlarged merchant 
marine. Finally, mention should 
be made of the provision now 
made for the education of en- 
Hsted men in the United States 
army and on shipboard in the navy. This education is 
partly technical in character, and partly general, and is designed 
not only to make better soldiers and sailors, but also to equip 
them for vocations and for citizenship in the community when 
their terms of enlistment are over. 

The creation of a United States Department of Education is 
being seriously agitated, bills having been introduced in Con- 
Federal gress for the purpose. In such a department, if 
department of created, will doubtless be brought together under 
a single direction most of the various federal 
agencies that now exist for the promotion of education, such as 
the Bureau of Education, the Federal Board for Vocational 



Rehabilitation of Injured 
Ex-Service Man 

This man is learning acetylene 
welding. His artificial arm is so 
constructed that he can use it ef- 
ectively. He is said to be the 
most skillful member of his class. 



EDUCATION AND THE COMMUNITY 157 

Education, and others, perhaps including the Children's Bureau 
in the Labor Department. As matters now stand there 
is a great deal of duplication of effort, and even crossing of 
purposes, among these agencies. But the service of such depart- 
ment, if it is created, will probably consist chiefly in setting up 
educational standards for the guidance of the states, and in 
rendering assistance to the states when it seems to be needed, as 
in the case of industrial and agricultural education already men- 
tioned. 

The people of the United States are quite firmly fixed 
in their conception of education as a duty and a privilege of the 
state, and object to tendencies on the part of the national gov- 
ernment to assume control over it. At the same time, because 
of the interdependence and unity of our national life, there is 
great need for more uniform standards of education among the 
states than now exist. 

What provision does your state constitution make for education? 

What is the cost of the public schools of your state? Of your city? What 
are the sources of revenue for each? What part of the cost of education in 
your city is met by your state? 

Describe the organization of your state department of education. Com- 
pare it with that of neighboring states. 

What are the powers of your state board of education? Compare with 
the powers of the boards of neighboring states. 

Who is the chief educational ofi&cer of your state (his name)? How is he 
chosen? His term of office? 

Why should your city have a greater degree of self-management in edu- 
cational matters than rural communities of the state? 

Just what is meant by the quotation in the text that "there is no such 
thing as a private educational institution" ? 

Are there many private schools in your city? Are they subject to control 
by city or state government? 

Do your city and state find it easy to obtain enough well-trained teachers? 
If not, why? 

What state normal schools are there in your state? Where are they? 
What are the requirements for admission? Are there any private normal 



158 COMMUNITY CIVICS 

schools in your city, or any that are under the management of your city 
board of education? 

What pubHc institutions for defectives and dehnquents are there in your 
state? Where are they? 

What are the requirements for admission to your state university? To 
your state agricultural college? 

Why are j^ou going (or not going) to college? 

Write a theme on "What our state university does for our state." 

Send for and examine a "List of Available Publications of the United 
States Bureau of Education." 

Debate the question, "Resolved, that the pubHc schools of the United 
States should be under the control of the national government." 

What arguments are given for the creation of a Federal Department of 
Education? 

How does one obtain admission to the United States miUtary and naval 
academies? May one become an officer in the army or navy in any other 
way? 

Report on the educational work for enlisted men in the army and navy. 

READINGS 

In Lessons in Community and National Life: 

Series A: Lesson 11, Education as encouraged by industry. 
Series C : Lesson 8, Preventing waste of human beings. 
In Long's American Patriotic Prose: 

Educated men in politics (Grover Cleveland), pp. 255-257. 
The educated man and democratic ideals (Charles E. Hughes), pp. 286—288. 
In Foerster and Pier son's American Ideals: 

The American scholar (R. W. Emerson), pp. 133-155. 
Democracy in education (P. P. Claxton), 156-157. 
State constitution and state school law. 
Reports of local and state departments of education. 
Publications of the United States Bineau of Education. 

Latest annual report of the U. S. Conunissioner of Education, These annual 
reports contain excellent summaries of every phase of education in the United 
States and in many foreign countries. 
Bulletins. Send to the Bureau for List of Available Publications. These bulle- 
tins relate to every important aspect of education, school organization and 
administration, etc. Some numbers relate to vocational education. Others 
relate to health and school sanitation. The "Health Education Series" of 
leaflets wiU be found useful and include, among others: 
"Diet for School Children." 
" Summer Health and Play School." 
"Teaching Health." 



EDUCATION AND THE COMMUNITY 159 

"Further Steps in Teaching Health." 
"The Lunch Hour at School." 
Teachers of civics will find the following bulletins helpful: 

1915, No. 17, Civic education in elementary schools as illustrated in Indian- 
apolis (Government Printing Ofi&ce, 5c). 

1915, No. 23, The teaching of community civics (Government Printing 

Office, loc). 

1916, No. 28 The social studies in secondary education (Government Printing 

Office, loc). 

1917, No. 46, The public school system of San Francisco, chapter on civic 

education. 

1917, No. 51, Moral valiies in secondary education. 

1918, No. IS, Educational survey of Elyria, Ohio, chapter on civic education 

(Government Printing Office, 30c). 

1919, No. 50, Part 3, Civic education in the public school system of Memphis. 
Send also to the Bureau for list of references on pupil self-government. On this 

subject consult your public librarian. 
King, Irving, Social Aspects of Education (1913). "A book of sources and 
original discussions with annotated bibHographies." This book contains chapters 
on various topics mentioned in the text, and will be found useful because of the 
reproduction of discussions by authorities on the various subjects and for the 
bibliographies. It contains chapters on: 

"The Social Relations of Home and School" (chap. iv). 
"The School as a Center of Social Life in the Commimity" (chap. v). 
"The Social Need for Continuing the Education of the Adult" (chap. vi). 
"Industrial and Vocational Education" (chap. ix). 
"Pupil Self -Government" (chap. xvi). 
Welling, Richard, Some Facts about Pupil Self -Government. A pamphlet 
published by the School Citizens' Committee, 2 Wall Street, New York City. 
A good summary in favor of self-government. 
Earle, Alice Morse, Child Life in Colonial Days (Macmillan) . 
Dewey, John. The School and Society and Schools of To-morrow. 



CHAPTER XI 

THE COMMUNITY'S HEALTH 

There is nothing else that concerns a community so much as 

the health of its citizens. Of more than three million men 

. between the ages of 2 1 and 3 1 examined for military 

defects and service in 1 91 8 only about 65 per cent were passed 

the national ^^ physically fit to fight for their country.^ The 

UCX6U06 ^ ^ ^ 

remammg 35 per cent were either totally unfit for 

any kind of service, or were capable only of the less strenuous 

activities connected with warfare. Most of the defects found 

could have been remedied, or prevented altogether, if proper care 

had been taken in earlier years. 

The nation loses by this physical unfitness in other ways than 

in fighting power. Investigations have shown that wage 

_, . , earners lose from their work an average of fromx six 

Physical . . . . 

defects and to nme days each year on account of sickness.^ 

the nation's 'pj^g (.Qg^- ^q |-]^g individual in loss of waees, doctors' 
industry . . . ^ 

bills, and otherwise, is a serious matter, to say 

nothing of the absolute want to which it reduces many famiUes 

and the suffering entailed. In addition to this, the country loses 

the wage earner's production. Sometimes death brings to the 

family permanent loss of income, and to the nation complete loss 

of the product of the wage earner's work. The nation spends 

. large sums of money every year in providing for dependent families 

and individuals. It was estimated in 1910 that the loss to the 

nation from illness amounted to three quarters of a billion dollars. 

^ Public Health Reports, U.S. Public Health Service, vol. 34, No. 13, p. 633 
(March 28, 1919). 

2 Public Health Reports, U.S. PubUc Health Service, vol. 34, No. 16, pp. 777-782 
April 18, 1919). 

160 



THE COMMUNITY'S HEALTH 



i6i 



The nation loses a great deal (how much can not be calculated) 
from the physical unfitness of many who are able to keep on 
working, but who are not fully efficient because of Education 
more or less serious bodily defects or ailments, and physical 
Even in school, pupils who lag behind in their ^®^®^*^ 
studies are often suffering from physical defects of which their 




"Setting Up" Exercises in the Army 

teachers, and even they themselves, may be unaware. Perhaps 
they are ill-nourished, or have defective teeth, or vision, or 
hearing, or sleep in poorly ventilated rooms. The community 
does not get its money's worth from its schools if its children 
are not in physical condition to profit by them. In a similar 
manner the earning and productive power of older citizens is 
reduced. 

If each of 50 million wage earners in the United States lost 6 days from work 
in a year, how many days' work would the nation lose? How many years 
of work would this amount to? 



l62 



COMMUNITY CIVICS 



At the average wage of a laborer in your community how much would be 
lost in wages in a year? At the average wage of a mechanic in your com- 
munity? 

Get information regarding the cost of a long case of sickness, such as 
typhoid fever, in some family of your acquaintance (perhaps your own), 
including doctor's bills, medicines, time lost from work, etc. 

What would such expense mean to a family living on as low wages as 
those mentioned on page 214? 

How many days of school are lost in your school in a year from sickness? 




How Hands and Feet are Lost 



Much physical disability and loss of life are due to acci- 
dental injury. In 191 7 approximately 22,000 persons were 
Injury from killed in industrial accidents in the United States, 
accident g^j^^j about half a million seriously injured. Be- 

sides those killed and injured in industry, there were in 
the same year approximately 55,000 deaths and 1,500,000 
injuries from accidents outside of industry — on the street, in 
the home, and elsewhere. More children from ten to fourteen 



THE COMMUNITY'S HEALTH 



163 



years of age were killed by accident than died from all epidemic 
diseases, such as scarlet fever, measles, diphtheria, and the hke. 
Twenty thousand children from one to fourteen years of age are 
killed by accident annually. The following table shows the 
percentage of deaths of young children from accidental causes 
for the year 191 7: 



Cause or Accident 



All causes 
Burns. . . . 
Drowning 
Vehicles. . 

Falls 

Firearms . 
Poisoning. 
AH others 



Under 5 Years 


100 


per 


cent 


40 


2 per 


cent 


5 


2 per 


cent 


10 


2 per 


cent 


8 


I per 


cent 


I 


3 per 


cent 


21 


I per 


cent 


13 


6 per 


cent 



5 TO 9 Years 



100 per cent 

21.9 per cent 

14.5 per cent 

39 per cent 

6.7 per cent 

4.3 per cent 

3.9 per cent 

9.7 per cent 



10 TO 14 Years 



100 per cent 
9.3 per cent 

22 per cent 

32.5 per cent 
6.9 per cent 

1 1.5 per cent 
3.6 per cent 

14.2 per cent 



Most of the accidents to hfe and limb are avoidable. Their 
number has been greatly reduced in the last few years, and will 
be still further reduced when sufficient attention is Education 
given to the matter. It requires cooperation on ®"^ ^^^^ ^^<* 
the part of all of us. In some cities, as in St. Louis, certain 
kinds of accidents to children have been reduced almost to the 
vanishing point by persistent instruction in the schools, leading 
to cooperation on the part of the children themselves. Courses of 
instruction in "first aid" have been introduced in many schools, 
promoted largely by the American Red Cross. This organiza- 
tion claims in a recent report that ''first aid instructions given to 
swimmers by American Red Cross instructors in all parts of the 
country has resulted in seven years in the reduction of deaths 
from drowning from 10,000 to 5,000 annually,fand it is the aim of 
the organization to broaden the scope of its work to reduce the 
number of deaths from other accidental causes." 



164 



COMMUNITY CIVICS 



Street accidents have become alarmingly frequent with the 
growth of cities and the increase in the use of automobiles. Cities 
Street have ordinances to regulate traffic and to prevent 

accidents street accidents, and the work of I lie traffic police 

has reached a high degree of efficiency in some cities. But 




Learninc. to Swim 

Onl of every too deaths from arcideni in one year among children from 10 to 14 
years of age -a were from (howning. 

traffic accidents will continue to occur until both pedestrians 
and drivers of vehicles observe the regulations with scrupulous 
care. 

Much has been done lo increase the safety of industrial 
workers by the installation of safety devices of many kinds, and 
Industrial by legislation requiring them, and making the 
accidents employer liable for damages in case of accident to 

his employees. Both the frequency and the severity of industrial 




Street Accidents Have Become Alarmingly Frequent with the 
Increase of Use of Automobiles 

Pictures of the same corner in Washington, D.C., a generation ago and at present. 

165 



i66 



COMMUNITY CIVICS 



accidents have been greatly reduced by these means. The work 
of the Bureau of Mines in the United States Department of the 
Interior is directed largely to the elimination of accidents in 
mines. A number of voluntary organizations exist for the pro- 
motion of "safety first," among them being the National Safety 
Council which is carrying on a widespread campaign of edu- 
cation. 




Women's Life-Saving Corps in Action 
Red Cross Life Savers of the San Francisco Y.W.C.A. 



Study the table showing percentage of deaths from accidental causes 
(p. 163). In what ways may children cooperate in preventing accident 
from each of these causes? Which causes are most prevalent in the period 
under 5 years? In the period from 5 to 9 years? From 10 to 14 years? 
What possible reasons can you give for the prevalence of these causes in 
these particular periods? 

Where would you go, or look, to find the record of personal accidents in 
your city? Get this record and find from it: 

The number of accidents during the period of the record. 

The number of injuries; the number of deaths. 



THE COMMUNITY'S HEALTH 



167 



The causes of accidents. Arrange them in order of their frequence. 

Classify these accidents as (i) industrial, (2) street, and (3) home accidents. 

Number of accidents to children. 

Causes of children's accidents. 

Kinds of accidents that are increasing in frequency; kinds that are 

decreasing. 
Calculate the percentage of accidents according to causes, and compare 

with table on page 163. 
What measures are being taken in your city to reduce the number of 
accidents? 




The Safety Committee at Work 

Street accidents to children have been greatly reduced in some cities by organized 
cooperation by school boys and girls. 

What part are you taking in accident prevention? What part is your 
school taking? 

Do you have first aid instruction? If not, ascertain from your local 
Red Cross chapter how it might be obtained 

Make a statement of the regulations for the guidance of automobiles and 
other vehicles, and of pedestrians, in your city. Illustrate by means of a 
diagram on the blackboard. 

Report on the work of the National Safety Council. 

Report on the work of the United States Bureau of Mines. 



1 68 , COMMUNITY CIVICS 

What is meant by an "employers' liability act?" Is therer such 'a law 

in your state? Have enjployers. ?ilwayS b'een Ifavorable 'to such laws? Why? 

Make a study of safety devices used in various' industries "in your- City. 

Disease also tends to.increase with the growth of communities. 
Health While recent studies show that certain physical de- 

conditions fects are more prevalent in rural communities than 
in ci les -^ cities, this is doubtless because cities have done 

more to combat them. 

The city is in contrast with the country in its personal public health 
work. Publicity of cases is readily obtained in the city, and their conceal- 
ment is difficult. The concentration of population makes inspections and 
visitations easy. Clinics and hospitals provide for their isolation and 
care, and public health nurses search out the afflicted persons and persuade 
them to accept treatments. Babies and children in the poorer sections are 
supervised, and facilities are provided for them to obtain healthful food. . . , 

The environmental conditions in a modern city are often more favorable 
than they are in the country. The tenement house laws require a certain 
amount of window space for light and ventilation. The city government 
prevents overcrowding, requires the ventilation of public meeting places, 
removes the sewage and garbage, and provides a pure water supply. ^ 

A study made by the Russell Sage Foundation in 1913 of 
the 227 cities with a population of 25,000 or more, showed that 
the larger the cities, the greater the effort to protect health. 
And yet, 

A fifth of tjie cities rnade po inspection of school children; over a third 
did not offer the ordinary laboratory diagnosis for the commoner com- 
municable diseases; over a fourth made no effort to educate in health mat- 
ters; nearly threcTfourfhs had no housing law; nineteen-twentieths had no 
concern with the hygiene of industry; over a half had no proper organization 
to combat infapt mortality; and less than a quarter had a coherent pro- 
gram against tuberculosis. /, 

What is meant by "vital statistics"? What is their importance to your 
community? Who collects them? Where are they recorded? Are they 
accurately collected and recorded in your city? 

1 Dr. Frank Overton, in Public Health and Hygiene, pp. 555, 556 (Lee and Febiger, 
Philadelphia; edited by Dr. W. H. Park). 



THE COMMUNITY'S HEALTH 1 69 

What do the latest reported vital statistics of your city show? What 
vital statistics are reported in your daily newspaper? 

How is the death rate determined? The birth rate? How does the death 
rate in your city compare with that in other cities of about the same size? 
With that of your state as a whole? Is your city death rate increasing or 
decreasing? Your state death rate? 

In what sections of your city is the death rate highest? the lowest? Give 
reasons. Show on map. 

What are the principal causes of death in your city? Which of these can 
be classed as "preventable"? 

What was the nature of the prevailing sicknesses in your city during the 
last year? What per cent of these were contagious? List the contagious 
diseases reported in the order of their prevalence in your city. 

Does your city fall in the class* of cities that do or do not provide for the 
things mentioned by the Russell Sage Foundation in the paragraph quoted 
above? 

The first essential to good health is pure air. People often 
needlessly deny themselves of it by improper ventilation of their 
homes and meeting places. It is often hard to get Pure air and 
where people live in crowded districts and work housing 
all day indoors. Frightful overcrowding of sleeping and living 
rooms has been common in industrial centers and in sections 
of cities occupied by newly arrived immigrants. Housing laws 
now usually contain provisions designed to prevent this, such as 
those prescribing the window area and the amount of air space 
to be allowed per person. Indifference on the part of builders 
and owners of tenements, and ignorance on the part of those who 
occupy them, often make such laws ineffective, 

A careful student of housing conditions points out that the 
average health ofhcer too often learns of bad conditions only 
when some one makes complaint, and is too often Lack of power 
in ignorance of the places that most need atten- of health 
tion. The task of thorough inspection is too great 
for the small force of inspectors provided by the city. The 
health officer rarely has in hand the health record of a given 
building — the complaints that have been made against it 



lyo 



COMMUNITY CIVICS 




before, the amount and kinds of sickness that have occurred in 
it, and so on. He rarely has sufficient authority to act when he 
finds bad conditions — to stop construction, to hire workmen 
to enter and remedy conditions whether the occupants or owners 

wish it or not, or to secure 
punishment of those convicted 
of violating housing regulations. 
He almost never has any part in 
the planning of buildings, or of 
passing upon plans with respect 
to their sanitary provisions. 

The time to correct defects in build- 
ings, from the sanitary point of view, is 
when the plans are made. ... It 
should not be possible in any city to 
erect a new building until the plans have 
had careful examination by the health 
department, and had the approval of 
the health officer. The cities where this 
is the practice today are the exception 
rather than the rule, and such an 
important change in procedure will 
encounter strenuous opposition from building interests. . . . ^ 

It may seem to be nobody's business but our own how we 
ventilate our homes. But bad air lessens vitality and nurtures 
Bad air and disease, causing loss to the comm^unity. Colds, 
the spread of influenza, and tuberculosis (of which more than a 
isease million people are constantly sick in the United 

States) are nourished in bad air and spread by contact, or by 
food handled by their victims. People who live in foul air at 
home mingle with others at church, in theaters, at school, in the 
court room, and in other public meeting places, which are them- 
selves often poorly ventilated. It is strange that courtrooms, 
where justice is administered, schools where children are pre- 



Tenement Air Shaft 

The long shaft, 28 inches wide, 
furnishes all the light and air re- 
ceived by a dozen or more sleeping 
rooms. 



Lawrence Veiller, in Public Health and Hygiene, pp. 302, 303. 



THE COMMUNITY'S HEALTH 171 

pared for life, churches where people worship, and theaters 
where they seek recreation, are so often badly ventilated. 

One of the principal purposes of city planning (see page 121) 
is to make living conditions more wholesome by relieving con- 
gestion and letting in the air and sunlight. Parks planning for 
and playgrounds are created to afford opportunity pure air 
to old and young to spend more time out of doors. Adequate 
transportation faciUties enable workers in ofhce and factory to 
live in the more open suburban portions of the city. In old, 
estabUshed cities city planning has often meant tearing down 
whole districts, widening streets, and providing open spaces, at 
great cost. In younger cities all these things can be provided 
for in advance by wise planning. 

Marked improvement of housing conditions has resulted from 
the enactment of city ordinances and state laws for their regula- 
tion, from the supervision of tenements by munici- Housing 
pal 'housing bureaus and inspectors from the improvement 
department of health, from the activities of voluntary associa- 
tions for the promotion of better housing (see page 118), from the 
awakening of employers to the influence of living conditions 
upon the efficiency of their employees, and from the education 
of the people generally to the importance of pure air and plenty 

of it. 

It is desirable to keep the air as free from dust as possible, 
whether in the home, the school, the shop, or the street. The 
dust not only irritates the eyes, nose, and throat, ^^^^ 
but carries germs of colds, tuberculosis, and other 
diseases. Well-kept cities are scrupulously careful about keep- 
ing their streets well-paved and thoroughly cleaned. Depart- 
ments of city government exist for these purposes. 

In early times this responsibility was left with the individual householder 
or shopkeeper (see the anecdote about Benjamin Franklin on page 42). 
In some communities even now the streets are sometimes sprinkled^ by 
private contractors who receive fees from householders. In such cases it is 



172 



COMMUNITY CIVICS 



not uncommon to see the driver of the sprinkling cart shut off the water 
when passing the property of citizens who have not paid their fees. 

Smoke and the fumes from chimneys are another cause of air 
pollution, large industrial plants, hotels, apartment houses, and 

^ , railroads being the chief offenders. An effort to 

Smoke 

suppress the " smoke nuisance " is made by requir- 
ing large consumers of coal to install stoking devices which 




Flushing the Streets 

Well-kept cities are scrupulously careful about keeping their streets well paved 

and well cleaned. 

secure more complete combustion of fuel, and therefore prevent 
its waste in smoke. Smoke inspectors are employed to keep an 
eye on this matter. A smoky atmosphere, like dirty streets, 
mars the beauty of a city and probably endangers the health of 
its inhabitants. 



THE COMMUNITY'S HEALTH 173 

Occupational diseases are diseases to which workers in certain 
occupations are subject because of the nature of their work. 
Many of them are due to poisoning, either from Occupational 
handling poisonous materials, or from breathing diseases 
air laden with injurious dust or fumes. They are among the 
causes of the wreckage of human life in industry. They are 
largely preventable by improved methods of manufacture and 
by proper ventilation, and some states have laws for their 
control. 

Is your schoolroom well ventilated? How do you know? What effect 
does poor ventilation have upon your feelings and your work? 

If the ventilation of your school is not good, what may you do about it? 
Who is responsible for it? 

Observe and report on the ventilation of moving picture theaters, churches, 
courtrooms, and other meeting places in your community. 

How many pupils in your class sleep with windows open? 

Get a report from members of your family who work in offices, stores, or 
factories, as to whether or not their working places are well ventilated. 
Tabulate the results for the whole class on the blackboard. 

If there are housing laws in your city, find out what provisions they make 
for air and light in tenements? Are these laws carefully observed in your 
city? 

How much air space should there be per person in a schoolroom? In a 
living room at home? (Consult a physician, the school medical inspector, 
or an architect.) 

Do tenement house inspectors in your city have ample powers? 

Why should building interests (builders, owners, real estate dealers) 
oppose approval of building plans by the health officer (see quotation on 
page 170)? 

Is your city well provided with parks, playgrounds, and other open 
spaces? Are such "breathing spaces" distributed where they are most 
needed? Are plans being laid for their further development? 

Do you know of employers in your city who have interested themselves 
in better housing for their employees? 

What voluntary associations or agencies exist in your city for the improve- 
ment of housing? What are they doing? 

Report on the organization and work of the street cleaning department 
of your city. Is it up to date in its methods? Explain. 

Report on the "smoke nuisance" in your city. 



174 



COMMUNITY CIVICS 



Make a report on occupational diseases. What industries in your city, 
if any, are producers of occupational diseases? 

Next to pure air, an abundance of pure water is the chief con- 
cern of a community seeking to safeguard the health of its citi- 
zens. Impure water is one of the chief sources of 
typhoid fever and other intestinal diseases. About 
400,000 people have typhoid every year in the United States, 
and 30,000 are killed by it. This is avoidable. We have from 
three to five times as much typhoid in the United States as 
many European countries have, thanks to our negligence. 



Pure water 



V'°- : •'•. -iS^^pS^-iri^-"-'"'^""^ 






■ ^^ff^ 



Tg i ^^:^ ^ 



Sketch Showing Sources of Water 
Pollution on a Farm 



Until communities provide a public water supply, families 
have to provide their own. People often depend upon the 
Private private well long after a public supply is available, 

wells Well water is easily contaminated. The diagram 

above illustrates how this may happen. Impurities often seep 
into wells from long distances. With the growth of population 
the danger increases, especially if the sanitation of the city is 
not perfectly provided for (see page 182). 

All large cities and many small towns and villages have their 
public water supply, often installed at great cost. In some cases 
Public water the water works are owned and operated by the 
supply community through its government; in others 

private corporations perform the service of supplying water 



THE COMMUNITY'S HEALTH 



175 



DiOO»^|MOT«N 



MH^AtT^URaHNil 




5c*Lt. or Ut~i.t.S 



Why Springfield, III., Must Not Pump From the River ^ 

The heavy black line marks the limits of the drainage area of the Sangamon 
River above the city water works. This area was inhabited in 1910 by some 191,- 
000 persons, of whom 1 10,000 resided in places of over 1,000 population. The river at 
Springfield is seriously polluted by the sewage of Decatur and parts of Springfield's 
own sewage, and water from it should not be used in an unpurified condition. 

for which the city pays. In either case the private consumer 
pays a rental or tax for the service. Many communities depend 
upon deep wells driven below possible sources of contamination. 
Others rely on adjacent streams and lakes. Some have found 
it necessary to go long distances for a safe and abundant 
supply. 

iFrom the Springfield Survey, by the Russell Sage Foundation. 



176 



COMMUNITY CIVICS 




The Water Supply System or New Haven 

A, Saltonstall; B, Whitney; C, Wintergreen; D, Woodbridge (Lake Dawson); 

E, Maltby. 



THE COMMUNITY'S HEALTH 177 

A city that depends on adjacent streams or lakes is endangered 
by sewage and other impurities from communities and farms 
within the drainage area (see facing map). This interdepend- 
illustrates the interdependence of cities and rural ence of city 
communities (see page 66) , and affords the reason ^^ ^^^^ ^^ 
for state control over streams and other bodies of water to pre- 
vent their contamination. Sometimes a city and the surround- 
ing region upon which it is especially dependent are organized 
into a sanitary district under the supervision of a special board or 
commission. » 

Chicago went to great expense many years ago to bring its 
water from far out in Lake Michigan through tunnels under the 
lake. But meanwhile it went on pouring its sewage into the 
Chicago River which flowed' into the lake. This necessitated 
the construction of the Chicago drainage canal connecting the 
Chicago River with the Illinois and Mississippi Rivers, and 
turning the flow of water from the lake instead of into it. New 
York spent many millions of dollars to obtain its water supply 
from the Catskill Mountains a hundred miles away; and 
Los Angeles has gone even farther to draw upon mountain 
streams. Cities will thus go to almost any expense to insure a 
pure water supply. 

Even then water must often be purified after it is brought from 
its sources. One common method is to cause it to flow upon 
large beds of gravel, sand, and other materials Purification 
through which it slowly filters, removing sediment °^ water 
and harmful impurities. Specimens of the water are taken 
daily to the laboratories of the city health department for exam- 
ination, and reports made to the people through the daily 
papers as to its condition. 

Make a report on any epidemic of typhoid fever recently occurring in 
your locality or state. What were its causes? How was it stopped? 

Is t)rphoid fever frequent in your city? To what causes are the cases of 
which you know attributable? If you don't know, how would you proceed 
to find out? 



178 COMMUNITY CIVICS 

Take a census of your schoolroom (or entire school) to determine the 
number of pupils whose families depend upon wells for their drinking water. 

How may a family proceed to have its drinking water examined for 
purity? , 

Make a study of your city water supply: sources; method of purification; 
cost to the city; cost to individual users; how the cost is met; public or 
private ownership. 

Make an excursion to the purification plant; to the pumping station; 
to the city laboratory where water is analyzed. 

What particular sources of danger to your city water supply exist? 

Is your city included in a sanitary district? If so, explain its organization 
and management. 

Pure, clean, wholesome food is essential to good health. Much 
illness is traceable to improper diet and to poorly cooked and 
''spoiled" foods. Typhoid fever may be contracted 
from milk, green vegetables, and oysters from beds 
contaminated with sewage. Tuberculosis may be carried by 
milk, either from diseased cattle or from victims of the disease 
who handle the milk at some point in its progress from dairy 
farm to home. The death rate among babies is especially 
appalling, and is due largely to the use of infected milk. Our 
food supply must be protected at every point, a thing difhcult of 
accomplishment in view of the many hands through which it 
must pass and the long distances it must frequently travel. 

The high death rate among babies, which was long taken 
almost as a matter of course, has been greatly reduced by proper 
The milk control of the milk supply. No small part of the 

supply jQgg Qf child life is due to carelessness and ignorance 

in the home. But the home is helpless if proper precautions are 
not taken before the milk reaches it. The health organization 
of a city includes inspectors who supervise all places where milk 
is handled and sold and take specimens of all milk brought into 
the city to the laboratory of the health department for examina- 
tion. The sale of milk that does not come up to certain stand- 
ards is prohibited, thus forcing milk producers in distant places 
to exercise care in their methods. As cities grow in size, they 



THE COMMUNITY'S HEALTH 



179 



are forced farther and farther away for an adequate milk supply. 
New York City, which draws its milk supply from five states, 
some of it coming as far as 300 miles, has authority to send its 
own milk inspectors into the surrounding region to inspect farms 
and dairies. But for the protection of all communities state 
control is necessary. 




Good and Bad Types or Dairy Stable 



Volunteer philanthropic organizations, acting independently 
or in cooperation with health departments, have interested 
themselves in a safe milk supply for those who Voluntary 
might otherwise have difhculty in obtaining it. cooperation 
One method is to establish milk stations in congested parts of 
the city where the poorer people may obtain milk with certainty 
of its purity. Such organizations have done much to educate 
the people with respect to the need and the methods of insuring 
a pure milk supply. 

City health departments also provide for the inspection of 



i8o 



COMMUNITY CIVICS 



other perishable foods, especially in the public markets. But 
here again it is necessary to control the sources of supply, which 
Pure food is beyond the power of the city alone. States enact 
laws jg^^yg ^Q regulate the sale and handling of perishable 

foods and to prevent the adulteration of manufactured food 
products with injurious materials. The state department of 




A Public Market in Cleveland, Ohio 



health has its laboratories and its food inspectors. Since food 
products are sent from state to state and are imported from for- 
eign countries. Congress has enacted pure food laws and has 
provided for national supervision over food products, especially 
animal products. The Bureau of Animal Industry in the 
Department of Agriculture maintains, in cooperation with the 
states, a system of inspection of cattle and packing-houses, 
establishes quarantine against diseased animals and meats, and 
regulates the interstate transportation of livestock and food 
products. 



THE COMMIJNITY'S HEALTH 



l8l 



Show on a map the area from which your city draws its milk supply. 
How far distant does the city go for its milk? 

What measures have been taken to reduce the infant death rate in your 
city? With what success? 

Report on the work of a milk inspector in your city. 

What is ''pasteurized " milk? " Certified " milk? 

What voluntary associations in your city interest themselves in a pure 
milk supply? What are they doing for it? 




A Pure Food Exhibit 
From the budget exhibit of New York City 

If there are "milk stations" in your city, locate them and tell how they 
are operated. 

What laws exist to protect your milk supply? 

What pure food laws exist in your state? How are they enforced? 

If there is a public market in your city, how is it regulated for the pro- 
tection of health? How may those who buy at the market cooperate in 
protecting the food displayed there? 

Are private groceries inspected in your city? 

The purity of air, water, and food depends largely upon the 
cleanliness of the community. First in importance is the 
disposal' of sewage. Every city has its system of sewers under- 



l82 



COMMUNITY CIVICS 



lying the streets, and its department of government responsible 
for their construction and maintenance. It frequently happens, 
Disposal of however, that the sewer system has not been care- 
sewage fully planned to meet the needs of city growth, 
thus failing to give adequate service. Sometimes the sewers are 
improperly constructed, permitting of obstruction by the roots 




Disposing of Garbage by Burial 

of trees or by caving earth, and preventing proper inspection and 
cleansing. Sometimes the houses in sections of the city are not 
even connected with the sewer system. All this means imperfect 
cooperation and poor leadership in the important matter of 
health protection. The method of final disposal of sewage is of 
the greatest importance. The easiest and most usual method is 
to have the sewers empty into streams and other bodies of water. 
This is a source of pollution of water supply, and necessitates 
great care in the purification of the city's water (see page 177). 
In <some cases sewage is put through a process of screening, 
filtering, and treatment with chemicals to reduce its quantity 
and to purify it before it is finally disposed of. 



THE COMMUNITY'S HEALTH 



183 



Garbage not only represents an economic waste but it is also 
a menace to health if improperly cared for. Uncovered or 
overflowing garbage cans are offensive, and attract Disposal of 
and breed flies. Progressive cities require the use garbage 
of tightly covered garbage cans, and frequent collection in closed 
wagons. In some places garbage is hauled to more or less remote 




i 



The Removal of Ashes • 

"dumps," where it becomes offensive, breeds flies, attracts rats, 
and possibly pollutes the water supply. Many cities now use 
much of their garbage for fattening hogs, and others have in- 
stalled garbage reduction plants where oils are extracted for the 
manufacture of glycerine, soap, and other products, where 
fertilizers are produced, and where the remnant is burned. This 
is the economical and sanitary method. 

Reference has already been made to the work of the street 
cleaning department (page 171). Cities also provide for the 
collection and removal of ashes and "rubbish" Rubbish 
(paper, cans, etc.) and require that these shall be ^^^ ashes 
kept separate from garbage, partly for convenience of handling, 
partly for considerations of health. 



i84 



COMMUNITY CIVICS 



We have learned in recent years that flies, mosquitoes, and 

various kinds of vermin, as well as rats, and even cats, are 

^. carriers of serious diseases. Flies are notorious 

Disease- t -i 

bearing in- distributors of tuberculosis and of t3Aphoid fever 

sects and ^^^ other intestinal diseases; mosqiiitoes of 
animals . . 

malaria and yellow fever; and rats of dread diseases 

such as bubonic plague, occasionally imported from foreign 




Garbage Reduction Plant, Washington, D.C. 

This is located outside of the city. The garbage is cooked with steam and pressed 
to extract the grease which is sold for commercial purposes. The remainder is sold to 
fertilizer manufacturing plants. 

lands by rats on shipboard. The terrible hook-worm disease, so 
prevalent in our southern- states, is caused by a minute worm 
infesting soil that is polluted with sewage. It penetrates the soles 
of the feet and the palms of the hands of those who work in the 
soil, finds its way through the blood to the intestines, and thence 
to the soil again. War has been declared against all these danger- 
ous forms of animal life, a war which requires the cooperation of 
every one, and success in which depends chiefly upon keeping 



THE COMMUNITY'S HEALTH 185 

the community ''cleaned up," so that the insects will find no 
breeding places, and the larger animals nothing to attract them. 

Describe the method of sewage disposal in use in your city. Is it a good 
system? Why? 

Are there any portions of your city where the houses are not connected 
with the sewers? What is the reason for this? Can you find out whether 
any kinds of sickness are more frequent in such sections? 

Do you know of cases where sewers have been blocked up and so caused 
trouble? What was the cause of the blocking? What should a family do 
to help prevent sewers from becoming blocked? 

Describe the method of garbage disposal in your city. How is garbage 
disposal in your home regulated by law? 

Write a theme on "The value of clean-up week to our community." 

What city ordinances regulate the disposal of ashes and rubbish in 
your home? 

How would you proceed to organize a fly-extermination campaign in 
your community? A mosquito-extermination campaign? A rat-extermina- 
tion campaign? Are such campaigns in progress in your community? What 
part are you taking in such campaigns? 

Report on the campaign against hook-worm in the South (see Readings). 

Besides attempting to create conditions favorable to health — 
pure air, water, and food, and clean surroundings — communities 
also provide for the care of the sick and seek to Care of 
promote observance of the rules of healthy living. *^® ^^^^ 
In most cases the responsibility for the care of the sick rests 
with the home, with the aid of physicians and nurses privately 
employed. The patient may be sent to a hospital, frequently a 
private institution. Communities, however, also maintain 
public hospitals, clinics, and dispensaries, and furnish medical 
and nursing care for those who are unable to pay for competent 
service. Cities and states maintain institutions for the care of 
physical and mental defectives (see Chapter XXII). 

An important part of the work of a health department is the 
control of contagious diseases. It is partly for this reason that 
medical inspection is carried on in the schools. Contagious 
Acting under the authority of local and state diseases 
laws, the board of health may place a home harboring con- 



l86 COMMUNITY CIVICS 

tagious disease under quarantine'. It may close the schools 
during an epidemic, and even forbid people to assemble in large 
numbers, as in the case of recent epidemics of influenza. Cities 
and states may declare a quarantine against other cities and 
states where epidemics prevail. The national government, 
through its Immigration Bureau, subjects immigrants to a 
strict inspection to determine their freedom from contagious 
diseases, and may forbid their entrance to our country if afflicted 
with such diseases. 

We noted in Chapter X the service of the schools in providing 
for health education and in helping to form health habits. It is 
The public an important part of the work of the health depart- 
health nurse ment, as well as of the department of education, to 
extend education in these matters to the people at large. This 
is done by various means. One of the most effective methods 
is through the public health nurse. 

"The public health nurse is the field agent of the public health officer. 
She spends most of her time visiting in private homes. She recognizes 
defects and unhygienic habits, brings children and patients to physicians 
and clinics for examination, and makes arrangements for treatment. ... 
The public health nurse may have to spend an hour or two persuading and 
instructing a parent to submit her child to an examination or operation which, 
takes but a few minutes of a doctor's time. She makes it possible for people 
in moderate financial circumstances to receive the benefit of medical and 
surgical advice which may prevent a severe attack of sickness or may 
enable a patient to return to a useful occupation. She is a teacher of the 
newer phases of public health work and brings a knowledge of the possibili- 
ties of preventive and corrective work to those who would otherwise remain 
ignorant and would become weaklings because the means of help were not 
brought to their attention. 

The greatest saving of life during the last twenty-five years has been 
among children under five years of age, and has been accomplished largely 
by means of the public health nurse. The nurses visit and instruct mothers 
in their homes, conduct classes for mothers and older sisters, establish milk 
stations, and promote a sanitary milk supply. ^ 

What is a "chnic"? A "dispensary"? A "sanitarium"? 

1 Dr. Frank Overton, in Public Health and Hygiene, pp. 573, 574. 



THE COMMUNITY'S HEALTH 187 

What city, county, or state hospitals, sanitariums, and clinics do you 
have in your city? Locate them on your map. 

Get from your city health department (and your state health department) 
publications relating to the control of contagious diseases. 

What is done by your city health department to control an epidemic of 
contagious disease? 

What is your duty if there is a contagious disease in your home? In your 
school? What happens in your school if a case of contagious disease occurs 
there? 

Write a theme on "The work of a public health nurse"; or, "Why I 
should like to be a public health nurse." 

What is the difference between a public health nurse and a school nurse? 

If you wanted a nurse to take charge of a case of sickness, to what dif- 
ferent agencies in your city might you apply? 

What is a "public health center"? (See Readings.) Have you any in 
your city? 

Every city government has its health department. It has 
been the customary thing to have at the head of this depart- 
ment a hoard of health which, under the form of The city board 
government that has long prevailed in American °^ health 
cities, is usually appointed by the mayor. The board varies in 
size, but five members is a usual number. As in the case of the 
board of education (see page 148), it is generally thought that 
the best results are obtained when the members are unpaid. As a 
rule it is required that one or more members of the board shall 
be physicians, though it is not the business of the board of health 
to render professional medical service, any more than it is the 
business of the board of education to render professional edu- 
cational service (see page 149). The board usually has certain 
legislative powers to enable it to make rules regulating the 
health conduct of the people. Sometimes this power is very 
limited and may often be practically annulled by the city 
council, which frequently passes ordinances in conflict with the 
best judgment of the board of health. It is the general behef of 
students of city government that the board of health should 
have complete authority over the health policy of the city. 



1 88 COMMUNITY CIVICS 

The professional expert in charge of the work of the health 
department is the chief health officer, who corresponds to the 
Health superintendent of schools in the department of 

experts education (seepage 148). He is usually a physi- 

cian or a sanitary engineer. Where there is a board of health, 
he is usually appointed by it. Subordinate to him there are 
inspectors of milk and other food, sanitary inspectors, tenement 
house inspectors, public health nurses, bacteriologists, and a 
more or less numerous staff of clerks. School medical inspectors 
and school nurses are sometimes attached to the board of health 
and sometimes to the board of education. Many believe that 
this work should be under the control of the school authorities. 
The number and variety of these health specialists vary in 
different cities. Often they are appointed by the board of 
health, but it is the opinion of most students that they should 
be appointed by the chief health officer and completely under 
his authority, just as school principals and teachers should be 
appointed by the superintendent of schools and not by the board 
of education (sec page 149). 

There is a decided tendency to place the department of health 
in charge of a single health commissioner instead of under a 
board. This is especially likely to be the case under the newer 
''commission" and "city-manager" forms of city government. 
(See Chapter XXVI.) 

The health organization of a city cannot be efficient unless it 
is supported by the people. It costs money. It is a common 
The cost of complaint that cities do not give the support that 
health pro- the importance of health protection and promotion 
deserves. Cities, of course, differ greatly in this 
respect; as a rule, the larger the city, the better the support 
given. The survey made by the Russell Sage Foundation in 
1 913 (see page 168) showed that this support ranged all the way 
from ninety-eight cents per inhabitant per year in one city to 
only three quarters of one cent per inhabitant per year in 
another. The writer of the report of the survey says : 



THE COMMUNITY'S HEALTH l8g 

vViiat can we expect of a department in a city whose total appropriation 
is but $200? And if the New York City department uses fifty-eight cents 
per inhabitant per year and has to practice great care to make it go round, 
what can our average city do on only twenty-two cents? Again, do any 
real differences in local conditions require that Seattle spend ninety-eight 
cents per inhabitant per year, while Woonsocket may rest content with 
four cents? 

In view of the close interdependence of the city and the sur- 
rounding rural region and neighboring small communities, it is 
highly important, even from the standpoint of the county 
city, that there be an effective health organization health 
in this surrounding region. Counties usually have °^^^^^^ ^°^ 
their own boards of health, or health officers, or both; but 
county health organization and service have been as a rule sadly 
neglected. At the present time, however, improvement is being 
made in this respect in some of the states. 

Arhngton County, Virginia, is just across the Potomac River from the 
city of Washington, with which it is connected by several bridges and 
electric railway lines. Most of its population lives in villages and small 
towns, many of whose inhabitants have their work in the city across the 
river. The county supplies Washington with some of its milk, vegetables, 
and other food materials. 

In this county, prior to 1919, "there was no aggressive health policy; 
little money appropriated; no provision was made for the removal of night 
soil; no safeguarding of water supplies; no school, dairy, or food inspection. 
Prevention of spread of communicable diseases consisted in the perfunctory 
duty of placarding houses and an inefficient method of fumigation. Tin 
cans, rubbish, garbage, and even night soil were deposited in vacant lots, in 
runs, along electric lines, in gullies and water ways. Hogs had grown up 
with the county and probably outnumbered the present school population." ^ 

This was a deplorable condition for the rural environs of our national 
capital. In the spring of 1919, the United States Public Health Service 
proposed to demonstrate the practicability of a thorough-going plan of 
health work and sanitation in this county. The demonstration was begun, 
with the cooperation of the state board of health of Virginia and the county 
authorities. The Rockefeller Foundation, a private agency, also contributed 
to the support of the enterprise. The demonstration was a complete success, 

^ From the first annual report of the health officer of Arlington County. 



IQO COMMUNITY CIVICS 

the county now has an extremely effective health organization, and has 
been thoroughly "cleaned up." 

When the demonstration began there was almost complete indifference, 
and no little opposition, on the part of the people of the county. To-day 
they are enthusiastic about their health conditions, and cooperate whole- 
heartedly with the health authorities, even to the 3,000 children in the 
schools of the county (see page 192). 

To insure protection for all communities within a state, city 
and rural alike, a state health organization is necessary. At the 
State health head of this organization there is a state board of 
organization health, or a Commissioner of health, or both. There 
are state laboratories, inspectors, and hospitals. State health 
departments differ greatly in their organization and in the extent 
and effectiveness of their work. Where they are well organized, 
they cooperate with and supervise the work of local health 
organizations. The New York state health organization is one 
of the best in the country, and may be taken as an illustration. 
Among its important features are (i) a public health council 
which has power to establish a state- wide sanitary code (law); 
(2) the concentration of all administrative power in the hands of 
a single state health commissioner^ who has a staff of experts to 
direct special lines of health work; and (3) a well-organized 
scheme of cooperation between the state department and local 
health authorities. Each local community (town, village, and 
small city) has its board of health and health officer; but these 
communities are grouped into twenty health districts, each of 
which is in charge of a district health officer called a sanitary 
supervisor, who is appointed by the state commissioner of health. 

While the health protection of the individual is considered 
primarily a duty of the state working through state and local 
Federal con- authorities, many conditions endangering health 
trol of health are nation-wide, and even world-wide, in their 
1 ions influence. Chiefly under the power given to it by 
the Constitution to regulate interstate and foreign commerce 
(see page 492), Congress has passed many laws that protect 



THE COMMUNITY'S HEALTH 191 

health, placing their enforcement in the hands of the several 

departments of the national government. 

The Department of Agriculture conducts much public health 

work, through its home demonstration agents, its Ofhce of Rural 

Engineering which deals with problems of farm 

, , , . . . ^ Health work 

water supply and rural sanitation, its Bureau of the 

of Entomology which wages war against flies and l>epartment 

,, J. . . ^, . ^ of Agriculture 

other disease-carrying insects, and its Bureau 

of Animal Industry which inspects cattle, meats, and dairy 

products. The Department of Agriculture also administers 

the Food and Drugs Act, the purpose of which is to secure purity 

of food products and to require that they and medicinal drugs 

shall be labeled in such a way as to show what they contain. 

Fraudulent and harmful ''cures" and ''patent medicines" may 

thus be exposed. 

The War Department has also waged a relentless warfare 
against disease, not only in the army itself, but also in the 
Panama Canal Zone, Cuba, Porto Rico, the Philip- Hg^lth work 
pines, and other regions occupied by the army, of other 
The Department of Labor seeks to improve the ^^^^'^"^^^^^ 
physical conditions of labor for both men and women, and its 
Children's Bureau is charged with a study of all matters pertain- 
ing to the welfare of children. In the Department of the Interior 
the Census Bureau collects national vital statistics; the Bureau of 
Mines has done valuable work for the prevention of accidents in 
mines and mining industries; and the Bureau of Education seeks 
to promote physical education, instruction in home economics, 
and education in the home relating to the care of children. 

The United States Public Health Service in the Treasury 
Department investigates diseases and health conditions and the 
means of controlling them. It issues reports and ^j^^ PubUc 
other publications of great value to the citizen, Health 
some of them being listed at the end of this chapter. ^^^^^^^ 
It has representatives in all important foreign ports, inspects all 



192 COMMUNITY CIVICS 

ships that enter American harbors, and holds them in quarantine 
until they and their passengers are given a clean bill of health. 
Cholera and other dangerous diseases have thus been prevented 
from gaining a foothold on American soil. 

It is never to be forgotten that all this governmental ma- 
chinery is merely our organization to facilitate cooperation for 
Voluntary health on the part of the people, and that it will 
agencies of fail to secure the results for which it was created 
CO opera ion unless the people actually cooperate with it. There 
are numerous voluntary organizations to promote such coopera- 
tion — more than fifty national organizations concerned with 
child health alone, and several times as many interested in other 
aspects of public health. A few of the best known of these are 
the American Red Cross, the National Organization for Public 
Health Nursing, the National Tuberculosis Association, the 
American Child Hygiene Association, and the Child Health 
Organization of America. 

The young people of America may have, and do have, an 
important part in this team work for health. There are several 
The oppor- national organizations for this purpose, notably 
Youn^° the Junior Red Cross and the Health Crusaders. 

America In many schools there are health clubs. In Arling- 

ton County, Va., referred to above (page 189), the pupils in 
every school are organized as Junior Health Departments, each 
with a boy health officer and a girl health officer, and each carry- 
ing on an interesting and important health program, cooperating 
closely with the county health officer and the public health nurse 
for all that makes a healthy and healthful county. 

Make a study of the organization of your city health department. Com- 
pare with the statements made in the text. Is your city health organization 
efi&cient? If you think not, why? How would you improve it? Is it really 
a means of cooperation? 

How much money is spent annually by your dty for the work of its 
health department? How much is spent per inhabitant per year? Is it 
enough? Why is not more spent? 



THE COMMUNITY'S HEALTH 193 

Make a study of your county health organization. 

Make a study of the organization and work of your state department of 
health. What help does your city get from the state department of health? 

Investigate and report on the sanitation of the Canal Zone; of the Philip- 
pine Islands; of Cuba at the close of the Spanish War. 

Report on the methods and results of the inspection of immigrants. 

Write a theme on "The United States Army as a Life Saver." 

How are we protected from Asiatic cholera and the bubonic plague? 

What voluntary health organizations are at work in your city? What 
are they doing? 

Do the people of your city cooperate fully and effectively in health matters? 

Find out what you can about methods by which school children may 
cooperate in community health work. 

READINGS 

Reports and other publications of local and state departments of health. 
Publications of the U. S. Public Health Service. For example: 

Federal Public Health Administration: Its Development and Present Status. 

Reprint No. 112, 1913. 
Public Health Reports. Issued weekly. For example: 

1919, No. 16, Health Insurance. 

1919, No. 13, The Nation's Physical Fitness. 
Supplements. For example: 

No. 4, The Citizen and Public Health. 

No. 5, Fighting Trim: The Importance of Right Living. 

No. 24, Exerci.se and Health. 

No. 29, The Transmission of Disease by Flies. 

No. 30, Common Colds. 

No. 31, Safe Milk. 
Public Health Bulletins. For example: 

No. 32, Hookworm Disease. 

No. 36, Nature and Prevention of Tuberculosis. 

No. 69, TjTDhoid Fever. ^ 

No, 102, Home-made Milk Refrigerator. 

Nq. 103, The Rat. 
Reprints. For example: 

No. 504. Sewage from the Single House. 

No. 517, Is Your Community Fit? 
Publications of the U. S. Department of Agriculture. 
Farmers' Bulletins. For example: 

No. 375, Care of Food in the Home. 

No. 602, Production of Clean Milk. 

No. 851, The House Fly. 



194 COMMUNITY CIVICS 

Year Book. 

1913, pp. 125-134, Health Laws. 

1915, pp. 159-172, Animal Disease and Our Food Supply.' 

1916, pp. 77-98, Meat Inspection Service of the U. S. Deportment of Agriculture. 
Publications of the Children's Bureau, Department of Labor. 

Bureau Publications. For example: 
No. 8, Infant Care. 
No. 35, Milk. 

No. 61, Save the Youngest. 
No. 64, Every Child in School. 
Publications of the U. S. Bureau of Education. 
Lessons in Community and National Life: 

Series C, Lesson 19, How the City Cares for Health. 

Lesson 32, Housing for Workers. 
Series B, Lesson 4, Feeding a City. 

Lesson 7, An Intelligent Diet. 
Lesson 14, The United States Public Health Service. 
Health Education Series. 

No. 7, The School Lunch. 
Bulletins: 

1910, No. 5, American Schoolhouses. 

1 9 13, No. 44, Organized Health Work in Schools, 
No. 48, School Hygiene. 

No. 52, Sanitary Schoolhouses. 

1914, No. 10, Physical Growth and School Progress. 

No. 17, Sanitary Survey of the Schools of Orange County, Va. 
No. 20, The Rural School and Hookworm Disease. 

191 5, No. 4, The Health of School Children. 
No. 21, Schoolhouse Sanitation. 

No. 50, Health of School Children. 

191 7, No. 50, Physical Education in Secondary Schools. 
1919, No. 2, Standardization of Medical Inspection Facilities. 

No. 65, The Eyesight of School Children. 
Dunn, Arthur W., Community Civics and Rural Life, chap. xx. (Heath.) 
Beard, Chas. A., American City Government, pp. 261-282. 

Payne, E. George, Education in Accident Prevention. (Lyons and Carnahan, N.Y.) 

Prepared at the request and with the approval of the National Safety Council. 

Towne, E. T., Social Problems, chap, xvii, "Conservation of Human Life." (Macmil- 

lan.) 
For a list of "valuable, dependable, interesting, and readable" books on personal 
and public health write to the Health Service, American Red Cross, Washington, 
D. C, for "Suggestions for the Health Center Library." A very few titles from 
this list are given below: 
The New Public Health, H. W. Hill. (Macmillan.) 
Community Hygiene, A. C. Burnham. (Macmillan.) 



THE COMMUNITY'S HEALTH 195 

Home and Community Hygiene, J. Broadhurst. (Lippincott.) 

American Red Cross Textbook on Home Hygiene and Care oj the Sick, (P. Blakis- 

ton's Sons & Co.) 
Public Health Nursing, M.S. Gardner. (Macmillan.) 
The Battle with Tuberculosis, M. King. (Lippincott.) 
American Red Cross Textbook on First Aid, (P. Blakiston's Sons & Co.) 
Civilization and Health, Woods Hutchinson. (Houghton Mifflin Co.) 
Primer of Sanitation, J. W. Ritchie. (World Book Co.) 
Town and City, Mrs. F. G. Jewett. (Ginn & Co.) 



CHAPTER XII 

SOCIAL, ESTHETIC, AND RELIGIOUS WANTS 

"In the great march of the nations towards a perfect civilization, one race has 
forged ahead in reverence, another in justice, another in knowledge, another in 
poiver, another in art. But the nation that gathers these all up into one coordi- 
nated whole is the nation towards which civilization tends, and wherein the com- 
plete man shall live nobly and happily" — Allen B. Pond. 

Several times in the preceding chapters reference has been 
made to our national purpose "to transmute days of dreary- 
Satisfaction work into happier Uves." This does not mean to 
of higher get rid of work ; for happiness can be attained only 

^ ° in work and through work. But there never was a 

truer statement than that ''all work and no play makes Jack a 
dull boy." In return for his work every citizen is entitled to 
enough compensation to enable him to provide not only for the 
bare necessities of life, such as food and shelter, but also for the 
pleasure that he derives from the satisfaction of his higher 
wants, such as social life and recreation, an education that will 
give him a richer enjoyment of life, pleasant surroundings, 
religious advantages. 

All these things have much to do with our national well- 
being and our citizenship. Our nation is democratic only in 
Equality of proportion to the equality of opportunity enjoyed 
opportunity to by all citizens to satisfy these wants. Moreover, 
enjoy ^-^^ efficiency of each citizen in productive work and 

as a participator in self-government depends more than we 
sometimes think upon his opportunity to " enjoy life" in pleasant 
surroundings and in wholesome social relations. In the past 
the citizen has been left largely to his own resources and to 

196 



SOCIAL, iESTHETIC, AND RELIGIOUS WANTS 



197 



purely voluntary cooperation to provide for these wants. Gov- 
ernment has not even adequately protected his rights of this 
kind, to say nothing of positively promoting them. At present, 
however, community team work through government is being 




A Typical Playground in Chicago 



organized as never before both to promote and to protect the 
interests of all citizens in the fullest possible enjoyment of life. 

Recreation and Social Life 

Children enjoy play because it satisfies physical, mental, and 
social wants. But it is also the principal means by which they 
prepare for the more serious duties of later life. The value 
It builds up health, trains the muscles and the ®^ P^^y 
senses, and sharpens the wits. It gives practice in team work, 
develops leadership, and teaches the value of "rules of the 
game." Every child is entitled to an abundant opportunity to 
play, both because of the happiness it affords him and because 
by it he is trained for membership in the community. It is to 



igS COMMUNITY CIVICS 

the interest of the community to afford him the opportunity. 
It is largely for this reason that most of the states protect 
children by law from being put to work for a living at too early 

an age. 

In large cities thousands of children live in crowded districts 
where there is no place to play except in the pubHc streets, 
ortunities ^^ ^^^^^^ ^^^^ ^^ appreciated the importance of 
for play in play in the development of young citizens that great 
"*^^^ numbers of schools have been built with no pro- 

vision whatever for playgrounds. This mistake is slowly being 
corrected, often at great expense. No school is now considered 
first-class if it does not have an ample and well-equipped play- 
ground, with competent directors to teach children how to get 
the most out of their play. Most cities are also estabUshing 
public playgrounds apart from the schools, sometimes under 
the management of the school board, but often under that of a 
special playground or recreation commission. 

Under the heading, "What Do Playgrounds Cost, and Are They Worth 
While," The American City for July, 1920, says: 

"It is notable that the verdicts from those cities which reported the heavi- 
est expenditures are the most enthusiastic and outspoken. Brookline, 
Mass., which paid $500,000 for its playground and spends $7,100 yearly on 
its upkeep, regards it as a 'paying investment.' Fitchburg, Mass., appro- 
priating $5,000 a year on its six playgrounds, says that 'no feature of the city 
has done so much good.' Macon, Ga., already spending $8,000 a year, 
intends to estabHsh a playground for colored children. Newton, Mass., 
appropriates annually $21,000 to $25,000 for supervision, maintenance and 
equipment, and the opinion of its citizens regarding the work is shown by 
the fact that last year a new playground valued at $125,000 was donated to 
the city. The final word of approval comes from East Orange, N.J., which 
votes $8,500 for annual costs: *It is the only thing taxpayers never complain 
about.'" 

On a map of your city mark in all the public schools. Color in one color 
all those that have playgrounds, and those that have none in another color. 
Make a cross, or other distinguishing mark, for those that are equipped with 
play apparatus. 



SOCIAL, ESTHETIC, AND RELIGIOUS WANTS 199 

In which sections of the city is there the greatest need for school play- 
grounds? Why? According to your map, is this need met? Why are not 
playgrounds immediately provided for all schools of the city? 

Locate on your map public playgrounds not attached to schools. Are 
there enough such playgrounds? Are they well located? 

Who is responsible for the management of playgrounds in your city? 




A Playground in San Francisco 

Is the play of the children directed? If so, by whom? Why is direction 
necessary? 

How could your own playground be improved? 

As children grow older, an increasing part of their time must 
be given to work — school work, tasks at home, remunerative 
employment outside of the home. After leaving Meaning of 
school and throughout adult life, work absorbs the recreation 
major part of one's time and attention. But even then, "all 
work and no play" will continue to "make Jack a dull boy." 
We now call play "recreation," for by it body and mind and 
spirit are refreshed, renewed, re-created, after close application 
to work. That is why school work is broken by "recesses." 



200 COMMUNITY CIVICS 

Recreation is necessary as a means of providing for physical, 
mental, and social wants; for the pleasure that it affords. But 
it is also important in its relation to work, for without it body 
and mind become "fagged," people grow ''stale" at their work, 
producing power and power of service are reduced. Employers 
recognize this more clearly than they once did, and large indus- 
trial establishments, department stores, telephone exchanges, 
and the like, frequently provide recreational facilities for their 
employees — rest rooms, reading rooms, game rooms, gymna- 
siums, music. 

It is very easy to get out of the habit of play, and especially 
difhcult to form the habit in adult life if it has not been done in 
The habit youth. People often become so absorbed in work 
of play ^-^^^ there seems to be no time for recreation. In 

such cases not only is the enjoyment of life narrowed, but there 
is a risk of damaging the quality of one's work and even of short- 
ening one's life of productive activity, or of service. 

Every worker is entitled to opportunity for recreation, both 
for his own sake and for the well-being of the community. 
Leisure a re- This means, first of all, that he must have leisure 
quirement j_q^ j|-^ When people have to work hard for ten or 
twelve or more hours a day, year in and year out, as was once 
customary in industry, there is neither time nor energy for 
wholesome recreation. That such conditions existed, and still 
exist to a considerable extent, is due to gross imperfections in 
the industrial organization of the community. One of the 
evidences of progress toward "transmuting days of dreary 
work into happier lives" is the reduction in the hours of toil in 
many industries, and the consequent increase of leisure for the 
enjoyment of life and for self-improvement. 

One of the things for which labor unions have struggled is the shorten- 
ing of the working day. Through their efforts, and through the awakening 
of pubHc interest and knowledge in regard to the matter, the working 
day is now fixed by law at eight hours in most industries, often with a half 



SOCIAL, ESTHETIC, AND RELIGIOUS WANTS 20I 

holiday on Saturdays. Experience has shown that this change in no way 
reduces the product of industry. There are still some industries, however, in 
which men toil at the hardest kind of labor for twelve or more hours a day, 
sometimes even including Sundays. 




A Wading Pool in Los Angeles 

Most of the children who use this pool and the playground in which it is located 
are from Russian families. 

A second thing necessary to afford opportunity for recreation 
is an income from one's work sufficient to provide more than 
the bare necessities of Hfe. Before the war, it is a living wage 
said, more than five miUion famihes, or about one * necessity 
fourth of the famihes in the United States, were trying to Hve 
on a wage of $50 a month, or less. During the war, wages of 
skilled and unskilled labor shot upward; but so, also, did the cost 
of living. It is not easy to determine just what share of the 
proceeds of industry should, in justice, go to the laborer in 
wages. But it should be enough to provide not only for food 



202 COMMUNITY CIVICS 

and clothing and shelter, but also for decent family life, for 
healthful surroundings, for education for the children, and for 
wholesome recreation. 

Labor unions and others interested in a fairer distribution of the proceeds 
of industry have long been working for the enactment of ''minimum wage 
laws," that is, laws fixing the least wage that may be paid for each class of 
labor, this to be enough to provide reasonable satisfaction of all the. wants 
of life. Some states have already enacted such laws, and during the recent 
war the federal government in some cases fixed rates of wages, and appointed 
labor boards to adjust wages to the rising cost of living. 

Leisure and income, however, do not suffice for recreation 
unless they are wisely used. Mere idleness is not recreation; 
The wise use and many people use their leisure in dissipation 
of leisure instead of in recreation. ''Dissipation" is the 

opposite of thrift. It means to " throw away," or to be wasteful. 
A person may " dissipate" his income. We have come to under- 
stand the word "dissipation," however, to mean excessive 
indulgence in pleasures or amusements that are wasteful of time, 
energy, or health, or all three; and we call the person ''dissi- 
pated" who is addicted to such indulgence. Any amusement, 
even though harmless in itself, may become dissipation if 
indulged in to excess, or at the sacrifice of other things that are 
better, as in the case of going to the "movies." 

In your own case, is "going to the movies" recreation or dissipation? 
What qualities must a moving picture entertainment possess to make it 
wholesome recreation? 

To what extent do business and manufacturing establishments in your 
community provide for the recreation of their employees? Select one that 
does most in this direction and describe what it does. 

Compare wage earners in your community to-day with those of your 
father's childhood with respect to the amount of leisure they enjoy (consult 
your father). From your own observation, to what use is leisure put by wage 
earners of your acquaintance? 

How does your father get recreation? Your mother? 

What is the length of the working day for the different employments with 
which you are acquainted in your city? 



SOCIAL, .ESTHETIC, AND RELIGIOUS WANTS 203 

Communities often lack adequate facilities for recreation. 
This is especially true of small communities. In large cities the 
best and the worst of everything may usually be found, and this 
is true of the means of amusement. But the better forms of 
amusement and of recreation are often beyond the reach of large 
numbers of the population, while cheap amusement and oppor- 




Recreation por Employees of a Soap Factory 

tunities for dissipation beckon on every hand. The saloon has 
been called the "poor man's club," and owed its popularity, 
before it was aboHshed by prohibition, very largely to its sociable 
atmosphere. Every community has its well-known "loafing 
places." 

The more harmful amusements and places of dissipation are 
more or less regulated by law. The saloon has been aboHshed. 
Gambling is usually unlawful, at least in its more obvious forms. 
Dance halls are supervised. Even moving pictures are "cen- 
sored." But the most effective preventive of dissipation is 
ample provision for wholesome recreation. Many of our cities 



204 



COMMUNITY CIVICS 



give a good deal of attention to the recreational life of their 
people. The city's parks give opportunity for outdoor life, and 
many of them include playgrounds and recreation centers, which 
on Saturdays, Sundays, holidays, and late afternoons, swarm 
with thousands of people, young and old, participating in or 
watching sports of many kinds, or enjoying family and friendly 




The Girls' House at a Country Club 
Supported by an industrial plant 

parties in the open. Pubhc bathing places are provided, and 
. cities with water fronts often provide recreation piers. Free band 
concerts are a common institution, and sometimes municipal 
theaters are supported. School buildings are coming to be more 
and more widely used as *' community centers" where the 
people of the neighborhood may gather for social entertainments 
as well as for serious instruction. 

The preceding paragraph refers to forms of recreation pro- 
vided and supervised by the city government, usually through 
its department of education or its department of parks and 



SOCIAL, ESTHETIC, AND RELIGIOUS WANTS 205 

playgrounds. Recreation is still chiefly a matter of private 
initiative and support. It is largely provided on a commercial 
basis, as in the case of theaters, concerts, amusement parks, 
athletic clubs, and the like. Many of these perform valuable 
service, but too often they are either beyond the financial reach 




Almost Every Community Has Its Loafing Place 

of most people, or are socially exclusive, or are of a low order 

of merit. 

Many voluntary agencies exist to extend recreational 
opportunity and to improve its quality. Only a few of 
these can be mentioned here. Philanthropic insti- Voluntary 
tutions or associations have established social associations 
settlements in the poorer districts of our larger cities, where 
wholesome amusements and social life are provided. The 
Young Men's and Young Women's Christian Associations, the 
Young Men's Hebrew Association, and the Cathohc Knights 
of Columbus, have performed a notable service in furnishing 



2o6 



COMMUNITY CIVICS 



means of recreation to young men and women. The Boy Scouts, 
Girl Scouts, Girl Pioneers, and Campfire Girls owe their success 
chietly to the wholesome recreation they alTord. The purpose of 
all of them may be suggested by the words applied to one of 




Community IMusic 



them: "An organized effort to teach girls to find romance, beauty 
and adventure in everyday life, to work togetlier, to give com- 
munity and personal service, and to make the homely tasks 
contribute to the joy of living." 

The Playground and Recreation Association of America seeks 
"to direct and develop interest in playgrounds, to promote 
wholesome recreation for young and old, and to assist communi- 
ties to establish year-round recreation systems supported or 
administered by municipal departments." Community Ser- 
vice, Incorporated, had its origin during the war to provide 
recreation for the soldiers, but it continues in an effort to "help 



SOCIAL, ESTHETIC, AND RELIGIOUS WANTS 



207 



people of American communities to organize for the employ- 
ment of their leisure time to the best advantage for recreation and 
good citizenship." 




A Beautiful Tenement Yard in Congested New York City 
Beauty in one's surroundings adds much to the enjoyment of life 

The trouble, however, is not wholly due to a lack of means of 
recreation, nor to lack of leisure to enjoy them, but also to a 
lack of appreciation of the best forms of recreation and of 
knowledge of how to make the most of recreational opportunities. 
People need to have their taste for the best forms of recreation 
cultivated, and to be educated in wise methods of using leisure. 
The opportunity for recreation is largely dependent upon one's 
own capacity to get enjoyment out of life. It is also largely a 
matter of thrift in the use of leisure time. All of this requires 



2o8 COMMUNITY CIVICS 

education. Education for the wise use of leisure is equally 
important with education for one's vocation. 

What forms of amusement and entertainment are regulated by law in your 
city? In the case of each, what are some of the regulations? What means 
are adopted to see that the regulations are observed? Why should each of 
the amusements named need regulation? 

List and locate places of recreation provided or administered by your city 
government. What departments of the government are responsible for 
them? 

Describe the recreational activities of the various voluntary associations 
mentioned on pages 205-206, so far as they exist in your city. 

Make a list of other voluntary agencies for the promotion of recreation in 
your city. 

Is interest in wholesome recreation increasing in your city? Give evidence 
of it. 

Report on the work of the Playground and Recreation Association of 
America. On Community Service, Incorporated. 

What agencies are involved in providing your community with moving 
picture entertainments? How are moving pictures censored? 

In what ways does your school educate for the wise use of leisure? 

What is the meaning of the statement that " the boy without a playground 
is father to the man without a job" ? 

Attractive Surroundings 

Beauty in one's surroundings adds much to the enjoyment of 
life, and therefore, also, to one's efficiency in work and as a 

Appreciation Citizen. 

of that which People are often apparently blind to the beauty 
that is around them. ''Having eyes, they see not; 
and ears, they hear not." Those who live in the open country 
are surrounded by natural beauties of which city dwellers are 
largely deprived. Too often, however, they are unconscious 
of them or indifferent to them. To the hard-working farmer a 
gorgeous sunset may be little more than a sign of the weather on 
the morrow, and the beauty of a field of wheat or corn may be 
lost in the thought of the toil that has gone into it, or of the 
dollars that may come out of it. Fortunate is the rural dweller 



SOCIAL, ESTHETIC, AND RELIGIOUS WANTS 209 

whose toil and isolation are tempered by an appreciation of the 
beauties of the natural world about him! 

Love for and appreciation of that which is beautiful may be 
cultivated. It is a part of one's education. The schools now 
give more attention to it than formerly; but its cultiva- 
many of them do not yet give enough. Apprecia- ^^^^ 
tion of beauty is cultivated not merely by instruction in "art," 
but also by those studies that increase one's knowledge of the 
common things about us. The teaching of agriculture or of 
science has a very practical purpose; but its purpose is only 
partly accompHshed if it teaches us how to raise corn or cotton 
without opening our eyes to the wonders of nature involved in 
the process. 

An appreciation of beauty may be cultivated, also, by associa- 
tion with it, as it may be destroyed by constant association with 
that which is ugly. People who live in unkempt and slovenly 
surroundings are likely to become indifferent to them. It is 
the duty of every one to have a care for the appearance of his 
surroundings both because of its effect upon himself and its 
influence upon others. 

A stranger who visits our school is likely to judge it, first 
of all, by its appearance. He will note whether or not the 
building is in good repair, the condition of the importance of 
grounds and fences, the presence or absence of appearances 
flower beds, shrubs, and trees. Inside, he will observe the 
cleanliness and orderhness of the room, the decorations on the 
walls, the presence or absence of pictures and flowers and 
plants; yes, and also the care pupils and teacher take of their 
personal appearance. These things are signs to the visitor of 
the interest taken by pupils, school authorities, and the com- 
munity in their school. They are also signs of the character 
of the work done in the school, and of the happiness of the pupils. 
In a similar manner, the] visitor to our community will form 
his first opinion of it by its appearance. He will note, first of 




'Stores Trespass upon the Public Way and Display Ugly Signs " 




The Same View as Above After Signs, Poles, and Wires Were 
Removed and a Boulevard Lighting System Installed 

By courtesy of Frank Koester, New York City, Advisory City Planner and Street 
Lighting Expert for Allentown, Pa. 

2IO 



SOCIAL, ^STHEXrC, AND RELIGIOUS WANTS 2II 

all, the appearance of the homes, and then, probably, the 

cleanliness and state of repair of the streets. He will notice, 

also, the extent to which the people love flowers, ^ community 

and care for trees and vacant lots. All of these judged by 

, . r .1 -J. j.1. appearances 

things Will be signs to him of the prosperity, the 

happiness, the ''community spirit," of the citizens. They will 

doiubtless enter into his decision as to whether or not he cares 

to live, or estabUsh a business, or educate his children, in that 

community. 

What impression would a stranger get of your community from its appear- 
ance, especially with reference to the community spirit? What features in 
the neighborhood of your school would probably attract his attention? 

What features in the appearance of your community give you a feeling of 
pride? a feeling of shame? 

Is your school as attractive as you would like to see it? In what respects 
do you think it could be improved? What could you, in cooperation with 
other pupils, do to achieve the desired improvement? 

America is a young nation and, like many young people when 
startmg out in life, has been too absorbed in the so-called 
practical affairs to think as much as it should American 
about some of the finer things that make life neglect of 

beauty 

worth living. The beauty that characterizes 
many cities of the older countries is the result of centuries of 
growth and of an appreciation of the beautiful that Americans, 
generally speaking, seem not to have attained, or to have sub- 
ordinated to other interests. In traveling through the United 
States one is likely to be impressed by the monotonous and 
unattractive appearance of the towns and villages. Occasion- 
ally, in parts of the country that have been settled longest, 
one sees beautiful communities that fit harmoniously into 
the landscape, and whose architecture is in pleasing taste. But 
such communities are rather exceptional. American cities have 
grown rapidly, and for the most part seem to have been thrown 
together, or permitted to grow up, without plan and with an 



212 COMMUNITY CIVICS 

eye solely to provide shelter, or for immediate business utility. 
Too often the American city is characterized by the following 
description: 




The City or Boston 

Note the extreme irregularity of the streets, some of those in the business sec- 
tion .being very narrow and crooked. Boston just "grew up," in contrast with 
the carefully planned city of Washington. Note the network of highways in the 
backgroimd, connecting the city with the adjacent suburban and rural communities 
(see page 64). 

" What is the great city of to-day? Wide regions given up to manufacture 
where forbidding, untidy premises sacred to utility and greed invite the work- 
man to his daily toil. Commercial districts where dowdy stores trespass 
upon the public way and vie with each other in the display of ugly signs, and 
where uncleanly booths and hucksters' stands obtrude themselves into the 
thoroughfare. Here and there throughout the length and breadth of the city 
rude hoardings smite the eye with jflashy posters and coarsely painted adver- 
tisements. The householder and the storekeeper, educated downwards by 
their daily environment, dump cans, sweepings and debris in the street and 
alley; and the passerby drops his newspaper in the open car or flings it to 
the ground, and with it any other thing he chances to have in hand and does 
not wish to keep. Street after street where rows of houses, — for the most 
part ugly or tasteless when new and now helpless and resigned, begrimed by 
soot or shabby with decay, — stare forlornly at still other rows disconsolate 
across the way." ^ 

1 Allen B. Pond, The Gospel of Beauty. 



SOCIAL, ESTHETIC, AND RELIGIOUS WANTS 213 

The attractiveness of a community depends largely upon the 
attractiveness of the homes and other properties that comprise 
it. The responsibility for the community's appear- opportunity 
ance goes back in no small measure to those who for leader- 
occupy the homes or own the properties. There is ^ *^ 
nothing in which the influence of example is so quickly seen as in 
matters relating to appearance. People copy their neighbors in 
matters of style, whether it be in dress or in architecture. This 
is one phase of community life in which it is easy to establish 
leadership, and in which young citizens can perform valuable 
civic service and contribute materially towards making the com- 
munity a better place in which to live. 

In one rather forlorn section of a large city a number of schoolboys who 
were studying civics sought permission to lay sod in the dooryard of a neigh- 
boring tenement house. Permission having been granted and the sod laid, it 
was not long before some one else in the neighborhood did likewise, and soon 
people all around were sodding their yards or sowing grass seed. Then they 
began to repair and paint their fences and otherwise to "tidy up" their 
places, until the whole neighborhood was transformed in appearance. It is 
interesting to note, also, that as the community improved in appearance, it 
also became less lawless than it had been. 

Does the description of a city given on page 212 apply to your city, or to 
any portion of it? In what respects? 

"What members of your class have kodaks or cameras? Could you not 
have a civics camera club? A collection of photographs showing beauty 
spots, and spots that need beautification in your neighborhood would help 
to create interest in the matter. 

What are the principal faults of the homes of your neighborhood with 
respect to appearance? Their principal attractive features? 

Do you know instances in which the example of an individual or of a home 
has spread through the community? 

Why might improvement in the appearance of a neighborhood tend to 
improve the conduct of the people who live in it? 

The achievement of the best in civic beauty, however, cannot 

be left entirely to individual initiative. There must ^, 

. 1 ^ T^® "*y p***^ 

be a certain amount of community control. One 

means of control is to have a plan. Probably the most beautiful 



214 



COMMUNITY CIVICS 



city in the United States,, all things considered, is Washington, 
the nation's capital, and this is due in large part to the plan 
adopted for the city in the beginning. 

The plan for the city of Washington was drawn by Major L'Enfant, a 
French engineer. It was a combination of the rectangular, or "checker- 
board," street plan adopted a hundred years earlier by William Penn as the 




Plan of the City of Washington 



plan for Philadelphia and characteristic of most American cities, with a plan 
of radiating streets borrowed from European cities. The Capitol building 
is one center from which streets and avenues radiated in all directions, and 
a mile away the President's mansion is another such center. In other parts 
of the city are other minor centers of street radiation. Convenience in get- 
ting from one part of the city to another was one object of the plan (though 
strangers are often confused by the many intersecting streets), but it has 
also contributed to the development of a city of very great beauty. For one 
thing, there are innumerable "circles" and triangular plots of ground at 
points where several streets intersect, all of which have been transformed 
into beautiful little parks, often adorned with monuments or fountains. 

A number of American cities which have started out with 
plans have either not adhered to them or have failed to revise 
and develop them to meet conditions of growth which the found- 
ers could not foresee. There must be continuous control over 
the growth of a city if its beauty is to be preserved. The city of 



SOCIAL, ESTHETIC, AND RELIGIOUS WANTS 215 

Washington is fortunate not only in having a plan comprehensive 
enough in its main features to meet the needs of growth, but also 
in having its government engineers and its art commission to 
adapt the plan to new conditions as they arise, and to pass upon 
the plans and location of buildings, parks, bridges, and other 
features. But even Washington has not been entirely safe- 
guarded against the growth of inharmonious features. Control 




Beauty in the Street 
Note the ornamental lighting standards and the shrubbery. 

has not been exercised promptly enough in all cases to prevent 
private interests, intent solely on profit, from erecting inartistic 
rows of houses, apartment buildings, and business blocks (see 
page 121). City planning is now receiving a great deal of atten- 
tion, and a number of cities have their boards or commissions for 
this purpose. Since the "planning " of an old city involves much 
reconstruction, it entails great labor, inconvenience, and expense; 
for old structures have to be torn down and private property 



2l6 COMMUNITY CIVICS 

condemned and bought for the widening of old streets and the 
laying out of new ones. 

Many factors enter into the beauty of a city, and need control. 
The streets must be well planned, well paved, and thoroughly 
Factors in. cleaned. Tljieir lighting system should give an 
CIVIC beauty abundance of light at night, while not marring their 
beauty in the day time with unsightly poles, wires and 
lamps. A forest of telephone, telegraph, electric light and 
troUey poles, with network of wires, is unsightly, and in 
many cities is eliminated by placing wires underground. Sec- 
tions of cities are made both unsafe and ugly by railroad 
tracks; but in Washington, for example, while the terminal 
station for all railroads is in the heart of the city, it is itseh one 
of the most beautiful buildings in the city, and all tracks pass 
through the city underground. The same is true of the railroads 
entering the Pennsylvania and the Grand Central stations in 
the heart of New York City. Bridges may be monstrosities, or 
beautiful works of art. Among the most difficult things to con- 
trol in industrial cities is smoke that clouds the atmosphere and 
begrimes people and buildings alike; and in cities, villages, and 
even rural districts, there is the billboard that "smites the eye 
with flashy posters and coarsely painted advertisements." 

"Man — the city maker — has remade his environment, and 
for that which was purely natural has substituted that which is 
Preserving largely artificial." Fortunate is the city that re- 
natural tains a setting of natural beauty. For years fash- 
^*^ ^ ionable Michigan Avenue in down-town Chicago 
was separated from Lake Michigan by unsightly railroad 
tracks. The tracks have now been depressed below the 
ground level and the lake front improved; while in the northern 
and southern sections of the city Lincoln and Jackson Parks 
stretch along the lake shore to the enjoyment of swarms of people 
otherwise condemned to stuffy tenements, dreary shops and 
ofiEce buildings. Cities that have allowed their streams to be- 



SOCIAL, ESTHETIC, AND RELIGIOUS WANTS 217 

come lined with unsightly buildings and more unsightly refuse 
heaps, are now transforming their banks into parks and boule- 
vards Happy, also, is the city which has for all its people an 




Fountain in Du Pont Circle, Washington, D.C. 
One of the numerous small parks where several streets intersect 

abundance of tree-arched streets, and of flower-adorned, bird- 
haunted parks. American cities are more and more commg mto 
possession of these things, which add so much to the joy of livmg. 

What department or bureau of your city government is responsible for 
street improvement? Just what are its duties? 

Do vou have "avenues" and "boulevards" in your city? What is the 
difference between "streets," "avenues," and "boulevards"? What is a 

* ' t)3,rkwa V ^ 

Are the names of the streets of your city indicated at street intersections in 
an attractive way, as well as plainly? Where is the best place for the street 
name, from the point of view of appearance and of effectiveness as a guide to 
strangers? 



2l8 COMMUNITY CIVICS 

Are the streets of your city weU planned? Are they well kept? 

Describe the street-lighting system of your city. What other methods of 
street Hghting are there? Would you favor a change of method in your city? 
Why? 

Make a study of your city with reference to other factors that enter 
into its appearance, such as electric wires and poles, railroad tracks, 
bridges, billboards, smoke, etc. 

Has your city conserved the natural beauty of its surroundings? Explain. 

Discuss the treatment of any streams that may ruti through your city. 
How have they been (or might they be) beautified? 

Describe the park system of your city. Let different members of the class 
write descriptions of the distinctive features of the several parks of the city. 

If there is a city forester, or similar officer, in your city, describe his work. 
Does he have the cooperation of all citizens? What enemies do the trees of 
your city have? What can you do to help fight these enemies? 

City planning includes, as we have seen, the adoption of a 
zoning system by which the height of buildings, the percentage 
Parks ^^ ^^^ space they may occupy, and the use to which 

architecture, they may be put, are controlled. Parks are appro- 
an art priately located and developed, and perhaps con- 

nected by boulevards. Public buildings are often grouped in a 
"civic center," for convenience as well as beauty, and their 
architectural features determined by competent architects. Art 
commissions pass judgment on statues, fountains, bridges, and 
the mural decoration of pubhc buildings. Commimities are 
beginning to take pride in the architectural appearance of their 
school buildings. Collections of paintings, statuary, and other 
works of art, are becoming more numerous, often through the 
beneficence of citizens of wealth who take pleasure in making 
them available to the public. 

We must not overlook the community's interest in beauty as it 
appeals to the ear. On the one hand, there is the efifort to culti- 
vate and to satisfy the taste for good music. The schools give 
more attention to the cultivation of musical appreciation than 
formerly. ''Community singing" is becoming popular. Public 
band concerts are frequent in our large cities. A number of our 



SOCIAL, ESTHETIC, AND RELIGIOUS WANTS 219 




Rotunda and Stairway 
Library of Congress, Washington, D. C. 



cities take great pride in their widely-known musical organiza- 
tions, such as orchestras and choral societies. On the other hand, 
some effort is made to suppress- unnecessary noises, which tend to 



220 COMMUNITY CIVICS 

increase with the growth of cities, and of which we are all too 
tolerant. The din of automobile horns and of street-car gongs, 
Unnecessary the clatter of flat wheels over poorly laid rails, the 
noises shrieking of sirens in factory and railroad districts, 

the roar of trains on elevated structures, the clamor of news- 
boys, hucksters, and cabmen, — these and other noises that are 
largely preventable and are, in fact, controlled in the best reg- 
ulated cities, detract from the pleasure of Hfe, if they do not 
indeed tend to shatter the nervous system. 

Make a list of the public buildings in your city. Which of these belong to 
the city? to the county? to the state? to the nation? 

Are the public buildings located in accordance with any plan? If so, 
describe the plan. 

Which of the public buildings of your city do you consider the most beau- 
tiful? Write a description of its beautiful features. 

What bridges, fountains, monuments, and statues of particular beauty 
are there in your city? Where are they located? 

Is there an art commission, or other group of responsible and expert 
persons, who pass judgment on buildings and works of art before they are 
erected in your city? 

Are the school buildings of your city beautiful? Are the newer ones more 
beautiful than the older ones? Make a list of those that you think most 
beautiful and explain why you select theih. 

Make a study of the churches of your city with respect to their beauty. 

Continue the collection of photographs of the beautiful features of your 
city. Also, in contrast, of features that are not beautiful. Also, as far as 
possible, collect photographs, picture post cards, and illustrations from maga- 
zines, showing beautiful features of other cities to compare with those of 
your own city. Consult your pubHc Hbrary for illustrations of civic art in 
other cities of this and other countries. 

Could you as a class (not as individuals) arrange to exchange views of 
your city with classes in schools of other cities for views of their cities? 

What can you say of the amount and kinds of unnecessary noise in youi 
city, and of the efforts made to suppress it? 

Make a study of the "city planning movement" in the United States, 
especially with reference to city beautification. Report on what has been 
done in particular cities. (See references in the Readings below, and consult 
your librarian.) 



SOCIAL, ESTHETIC AND, RELIGIOUS WANTS 221 

Religious Life and Agencies 
In some countries church and state are inseparably bound 
together. Before the recent war the Russian Czar was also the 
head of the Russian church. In our own country Government 
in colonial times, no citizen was permitted to vote and reUgion 
in the New England town meeting (see page 437) who did not 
belong to the Puritan church of the community. This religious 
qualification for participation in government was in the course 
of time dispensed with, and one of the fundamental principles 
of our democracy is that every citizen shall have complete 
liberty of religious belief. Our government exercises no control 
over the religious life of the people other than to guarantee this 
liberty. ''Congress shall make no law respecting an estab- 
lishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof" 
(Constitution, Amendment I). State constitutions contain 
similar guarantees. To prevent government interference with 
religion, religious institutions are exempt from taxation. 

On the other hand, the church and other religious institutions 
are an important means of community control. They do not 
exercise this control through government, but Religion a 
through the influence of their own beliefs and organ- means^ of 
ization upon the conduct of their members. If 
everybody should live in accordance with the Golden Rule, 
there would be no need for government as a means of repression, 
but only as a means of performing service. 

One of the unfortunate things about the church has been the 
fact that more or less important differences in religious belief 
have tended to break up the community into nu- f^^^f^^^^ ^^- 
merous religious groups, or churches. This may be obstacle to 
necessary in purely religious matters, but it has too team work 
often happened that the people have allowed their religious 
differences to prevent united action in other matters of common 
interest to the entire community. In some cases communities 
have been broken up into rival, or even hostile, factions because 



222 



COMMUNITY CIVICS 









.* i 




.;>-«' 




^> .. 





II T -^ I 







Courtesy American Magazine of Art 

The Village Church, Lyme, Conn. 
A Painting by Everett Warner 

This is a typical early New England church, where people not only worshipped, 
but also met in town meeting. 



of this. There is, however, a growing tolerance of one religious 
sect or denomination by others, which is in accord with the 
Christian spirit, and is necessary if community life is to be well 



SOCIAL, ESTHETIC, AND RELIGIOUS WANTS 223 

developed. It often happens that there are more churches of the 
same denomination in a community than it can support. In such 
cases, at least, there is need for church consohdation similar to 
the consolidation of schools, and for the same reason. 

The church may be, and often is, an important agency in the 
community for the performance of services other than that of 
ministering to the religious wants of the people. Social service 
Or, to speak more correctly, it has reaUzed more or °^ *^® church 
less fully that the religious wants of the people are closely bound 
up with their other wants, and seeks to minister to these other 
wants as a part of its religious duty. Thus, we find the church 
growing more active in looking after the health interests, edu- 
cational interests, and social and recreational interests of its 
members and others. 

READINGS 

In Lessons in Community and National Life: 

Series A: Lesson 27, Concentration of social institutions (including the school 

and the church). 
Series B: Lesson 12, ImpersonaUty of modern life. 

Lesson 20, The church as a social institution. 
Lesson 29, Labor organizations. 
Series C: Lesson 11, The effects of machinery on rural life. 
Lesson 29, Child labor. 
Lesson 32, Housing for. workers. 
The Playground. A monthly publication of the Playground and Recreation 

Association of America, i Madison Avenue, New York. 
Sources of Information on Play and Recreation, by Lee F. Hanmer and Howard W. 
Knight. Department of Recreation, Russell Sage Foundation, New York (1915)- 
Beard, Charles A., American City Government, chap, xiii, "Municipal Recreation." 
Addams, Jane, The Spirit of Youth and the City Street. 
Mero, A. B., American Playgrounds. 
Jackson, Henry E., A Community Center — What It Is and How to Organize It. 

U.S. Bureau of Education Bulletin 191 8, No. 11. 
The American City Magazine, 154 Nassau Street, New York, contains in every issue 

material relating to city planning, civic art, and recreation. 
The Proceedings of the National Conference on City Planning are one of the best 
sources of information on the progress of city planning. 60 State Street, Boston. 
Beard, Charles A., American City Government, chap, xiv, "City Planning," 
Nolen, John, City Planning (D. Appleton & Co.). 



224 COMMU^NITY CIVICS 

Nolen, John, New Ideals in the Planning of Cities. American City Bureau, 261 
Broadway, New York. 

Robinson, C. M., Improvement of Towns and Cities. 

Robinson, C. M., Modern Civic Art. 

Koester, Frank, Modern City Planning and Maintenance. 

The American Civic Associarion, Union Trust Building, Washington, D.C., pub- 
lishes pamphlets on civic improvement. 

Jackson, Henry E., The Community Church (Macmillan). 



CHAPTER XIII 

THE PROTECTION OF PROPERTY 

The loss from fire in the United States, according to a report 
of the United States Geological Survey, equals the combined 
product of all our gold mines, silver mines, copper ^^^ ^^^^ 
mines, and oil wells. It is "greater than the value in the 
of all the land and improvements in any one of ^J^*^d 
these states : Maine, West Virginia, North Caro- 
lina, North Dakota, South Dakota, Alabama, Louisiana, or 
Montana." ''It is almost as though one of these great states 
were fed into the fire every year." It is " nearly enough to build 
a Panama Canal each year." 

''In 1913, the average fire loss for each man, woman, and 
child in France was 49 cents ; in England it was 33 cents ; in 
Germany, 28 cents; in Austria, 25 cents; in Italy, 25 cents; in 
Switzerland, 15 cents; and in Holland, only 11 cents. In the 
United States for the same year the direct loss was $2.10 — and 
the indirect loss was far higher. . . . Vienna and Chicago are 
cities of about the same size. Vienna had fire losses for the 
year 1913 of $303,200; Chicago's were $5>5i3,237, or inore than 
eighteen times as great. New York City's fire losses were about 
* four and one-half times as large as those of London." ^ 

It may be that the smaller fire losses in European cities are 
due in part to the construction of fewer inflammable buildings, 
or to a more rigid enforcement of laws aiming at The cost of 
fire prevention. But one thing is certain, namely, carelessness 
that the appalling loss from fire in the United States is due largely 

iThe statements quoted are taken from a valuable pamphlet, Safeguarding the 
Home against Fire, prepared by the National Board of Fire Underwriters, New 
York City, from whom it may be obtained. 

225 



2 26 COMMUNITY CIVICS 

to carelessness. If we examine the reports of the fire depart- 
ment in any American city for a year, or a month, and study the 
causes of fires, we shall find that most of them would not have 
occurred if some one had not been careless — in handling 
matches, in throwing away lighted cigars or cigarettes, in allow- 
ing accumulations of inflammable refuse, in forgetting the stove 
or the furnace, in handling gasoline, and so on. It is said that 
wastefulness is our chief national sin, but carelessness is the 
twin sister of wastefulness: they go hand in hand. 

The spirit of carelessness in the United States is really a greater enemy 
than any foreign invader, and it is found in millions of little unconscious 
acts of carelessness. Whenever you, yourself, commit such an act, there- 
fore, you really range yourself as an enemy of your country.^ 

If the loss from fire fell only upon those whose carelessness 
caused it, it would not be so bad. But, like the rain, it falls 
upon the innocent and the guilty alike. Our interdependence 
is in no way more clearly shown than in the results of some one's 
carelessness in causing a fire. 

The first and most important step for the protection of 
property from destruction by fire is to prevent fires, and the 
Fire responsibility for this falls very heavily upon 

prevention Qdioh citizen, young or old. But it is a matter 
requiring concerted action — team work. In many com- 
munities there is an annual fire-prevention day, or week. This 
certainly does not mean that fires are to be prevented on that day, 
or week, alone ; it means, rather, that at least once a year the. 
entire community concentrates its thought upon this important 
subject, and engages in a general, concerted clean-up of con- 
ditions that might invite disaster. But every day ought to be a 
fire-prevention day. Young citizens who are seeking ways in 
which to serve their community in a practical manner might 
find one fruitful opportunity in organizing a fire-prevention 
club; or, if already members of some other "good citizenship" 

^Safeguarding the Home against Fire, p. ii. 



THE PROTECTION OF PROPERTY ^ . 227^ 

club, to make fire prevention one of its chief interests. An 
organization of this sort in every school would mean a fire- 
prevention army in the United States that could easily do as 
much to protect the community's wealth by reducing fire loss, 
as the School Garden Army accomplished in producing food 
supplies during the war. The prosperity of a community, like 
that of an individual, depends as much upon what it saves as 




"A Street of Desolation" 

"The buildings consumed by fire in 1914 would line both sides of a street extend- 
ing from New York to Chicago. A person journeying along this street of desolation 
would pass in every thousand feet a room from which an injured person was taken." 

upon what it produces. Who could more appropriately initiate 
such a movement than the civics class ? 

Gather and bring to class as many facts as possible showing the magnitude 
of the fire loss in the United States. 

Ascertain the fire loss in your city for the past year. 

What is meant by "direct" fire loss? What items would be included 
in the "indirect" fire loss? 

Bring to class and put on the bulletin board clippings from your daily 
papers reporting fires for a period of a week or month. Tabulate losses 
and causes as far as reported. 

Are annual reports published in your city showing the number of fires 
occurring, their causes, and losses involved? If so, by whom and where? 

If such a report exists, get it and study the causes of fires reported. 
Make a list of those that may be charged to carelessness. What percentage 
of all fires fall in this list? 



228 COMMUNITY CIVICS 

If your city had a fire-prevention day this year, or last year, what did it 
accomplish? What part in it did you take? Your school? 

What can you do to-day to lessen the danger from fire in your school, 
home, neighborhood, and city? 

Why not organize a fire-prevention club in your school? Discuss the 
question in class. Consider : 

Whether or not there is any other organization in your school that might 
properly interest itself in fire prevention as a part of its program ; 

What the program of such a club might be; obligations of members; 
subjects for discussion at meetings ; activities ; 

The possibility of similar clubs in other schools of your city ; 

The practicability of correspondence between your school and schools of 
other cities with regard to the organization and aims of such clubs, and the 
development of a fire-prevention army. 

Fire insurance afTords an example of voluntary cooperation for 
protection against loss by fire. It is simply a method of dis- 
Loss dis- tributing the loss from any particular fire among a 

tributed by great many people. Property ov^ners buy insurance 
msurance from insurance companies, paying for it a small pre- 

mium. The premiums paid by a large number of policy holders, 
together with the profits resulting from their investment, 
produce a large fund out of which the insurance company pays 
the occasional losses of individual policyholders. Insurance 
rates vary with the character of the "risk." Insurance com- 
panies may refuse to sell a policy, for example, on a house where 
the electric wiring is not properly insulated, or on a store where 
dangerous explosives are kept. At least the rate of insurance 
will be higher in such cases than in others. In order to secure 
lower rates property owners are likely to keep their premises 
in as safe condition as possible, thus reducing the likelihood of 
fire. A great many people are careless about keeping their 
insurance paid up, thus losing its protection in case their prop- 
erty burns. 

Property may also be insured against loss from storm or flood, 
and even against theft or burglary. 

What is meant by an insurance "policy"? a "premium"? 



THE PROTECTION OF PROPERTY 



229 



Obtain a blank insurance policy from some insurance office for study in 

class. 

Find out what you can about insurance rates in your city. Are they 
relatively high or low as compared with those of other cities? How do 
they vary in different parts of town, and for different kinds of buildings? 

What rate of insurance does your father pay on your home? On his 

place of business? 

Is there a "salvage corps" in your city? Under whose direction is it? 

What does it do? 




All That is Left of Home 

Individual care and voluntary cooperation, however, are not 
enough in large communities. The larger the community, the 
more elaborate and costly become the organization and equip- 
ment necessary to fight fire. It is necessary to work through 
government. 

Building laws, mostly local but sometimes state laws, regulate 
the materials of which buildings may be constructed; height 
of buildings ; thickness of walls ; construction of flues ; Building 
electric wiring; placing of fire escapes and keeping laws 
them free of obstructions ; number and placing of exits ; lighting of 



230 . COMMUNITY CIVICS 

halls; accumulation of rubbish; storing of inflammable or 
explosive materials. Provision is made for the inspection of 
buildings to see that they conform to the legal requirements. 

Building laws are frequently disobeyed and badly enforced. 
It requires a highly efhcient inspection system to detect in- 
fractions of the many details of such laws in large cities, if 
builders and property owners themselves do not cooperate 
conscientiously. Many such infractions are due to ignorance 
of the laws, though this does not excuse them. Many people 
are willing to "take chances" on escaping fires without careful 
observance 'of the laws. Builders and property owners often 
seek to evade what they consider unnecessary expense by ignor- 
ing the provisions of the law. In many cases it is a matter of 
sheer carelessness or neglect. 

Make a study of the building laws of your dity so far as they relate to 
fire prevention. 

Are building laws carefully observed and enforced in your city ? What 
buUding laws are most likely to be ignored? 

What existing arrangements of your school building are required by law? 
Are there any arrangements or conditions in your school building that are 
contrary to law? 

What is the purpose of the "fire drill" in your school? Is the fire drill 
well conducted? If not, in what respects? 

Are the moving picture theaters in your vicinity safe? What provisions 
are made for their safety? 

One of the first essentials for fire protection is an adequate 

water supply. We have already considered the city's water 

supply in its relation to health (see pages 174-177) 

supp y ^^^ noted the elaborate measures taken by many 

, cities to provide themselves with enough pure water to meet all 

needs. For fire protection the purity of the water is of no 

consequence, but abundance, accessibility, and pressure count 

for everything. 

The water that is piped to every part of the city is made accessible for 
fire purposes by means of fire plugs, or hydrants, at frequent intervals in 
every street. If the reservoirs in which water is stored before it enters the 



THE PROTECTION OF PROPERTY 23 1 

mains in the streets are sufficiently high above the city level, the natural 
fall affords sufficient pressure for ordinary purposes. Or the water may be 
pumped into tall standpipes, the fall from which gives the necessary pressure 
to permit playing fire streams upon high buildings. The fire engine is of 
course a pump by means of which water from the mains is forced upon the 
fire. In some cities a special system of "high pressure" mains is laid in the 
streets, through which water is forced at very high pressure by means of 
powerful pumps in central power houses. 

The rapid growth of cities in recent years has imposed heavy 
demands upon their water systems. We have noted the extraor- 
dinary measures taken by New York and Los Economy in 
Angeles to provide themselves with an inexhaust- ^^e of water 
ible water supply. Many cities at the present time are alarmed 

At 40 pounds pressure, in 24 hours, 

a stream running through this size of opening would 

mean a waste of 170 gallons, 

through this opening a waste of 970 gallons, and 

through this opening a waste of 3,600 gallons. 



to find that their water systems are taxed almost to their utmost 
capacity to meet even normal needs, and are taking steps to 
increase that capacity, as in the case of our capital city, Wash- 
ington. Under saich conditions it is necessary to economize in 
the use of water in every possible way. To most people water 
seems as free as air; but it costs every city heavily, and every 
property owner has to pay for it. Wastefulness is inexcusable 
at all times; but when the supply is limited, the danger to 
which it exposes the city makes economical use imperative. 
Each individual of us can help materially to prevent waste of 
water by ordinary care with respect to faucets in the bathroom 
or kitchen, the use of garden hose, and in other ways. 




232 COMMUNITY CIVICS 

Is the water supply of your city adequate for present and future needs? 

What proposals, if any, are made to increase your water supply ? 

Is the water pressure in your city adequate to meet all emergencies? 
How is this pressure secured? If you have a "high pressure" system in your 
city, how does it operate? 

Are water meters used widely in your city? How do they effect economy 
in the use of water? 

What can you say about economy or wastefulness in the use of water in 
your home? 

See topics on water supply on page 178. 

Water is merely the ammunition without which the com- 
munity's fire-fighting army would be helpless in the face of the 
enemy. Every city has such an army in its fire department. 

In the beginning of community life, and to-day in rural districts, each 

householder is the defender of his own possessions, whether against fire 

or human enemies. As communities grow the need for organ- 

oopera ion j^^^ cooperation becomes apparent. The first step is the 

in fire fighting . ,. r . , ^ ■ ^-u u f 

organization of volunteer fire companies, the members of 

which go about their usual business until an alarm of fire is given, when 
they drop whatever they have in hand and rush to meet the enemy. The 
volunteer fireman may be compared to the "minute-man" of colonial New 
England. When the community grows still larger, a permanent, highly- 
trained fire-fightirg force becomes necessary.^ 

The fire departments of our large cities afford one of the 
most perfect examples of organized team work for community 
Efficiency purposes — organization and team work that are 
of fire machine-like in their perfection. They are also 

epartments prolific of examples of discipline, resourcefulness, 
courage, and loyalty, on the part of the individual members who 
may be called upon at any moment to take their lives in their 
hands for the security of others. 

The fire department is a part of the service organization of the 
city government. It is administered, as a rule, by a fire com- 
missioner, or a board of fire commissioners ap- 
Organization . , . . it i 1 1 

pomted from private life by the mayor or other 

governmental authority. Often the fire department is joined 

^ Wilmington, Del., is probably the only large city in the United States that 
still depends largely upon a volunteer organization of its fire department. 



THE PROTECTION OF PROPERTY 233 

with the police department in a department of public safety 
under a single board or commissioner. The actual direction of 
the fire department is in the hands of d^fire chief, who corresponds 
to the commanding general of an army; and subordinate to him 
are captains, heutenants, and other officers in command of 
various divisions of the force. The members of the department 
are distributed throughout the city at various advantageous 
stations, each* station being equipped with elaborate fire- 
fighting apparatus, and all being connected by a system of 
electric signals. 

Make a study of the fire department of your city: organization; number 
of men ; location of fire stations or engine houses (locate on map of the city) ; 
equipment; alarm system; cost to the community (compare with cost of 
police department and of schools) . 

If a fire should break out in your home, school, or vicinity, what steps 
would you take? Just how would you send in an alarm? 

Visit an engine house and have its arrangements explained to you. After- 
wards, discuss in class. 

MiUions of dollars in property have been destroyed, thou- 
sands of lives lost, and untold suffering caused by the periodic 
recurrence of floods in certain sections of the Loss from 
country. The control of floods requires the com- ^''''^^ 
bined efforts of national and state governments, as well as of 
local communities and individuals. Levees have been built 
along some of our rivers that are subject to flood, notably the 
lower Mississippi, where the work has been done by the joint 
action of the states affected, through their local levee boards 
and state boards of engineers, and the United States Mississippi 
River Commission. A recent law of Congress appropriated 
$45,000,000 for the control of floods by improvements from the 
head waters of the Mississippi to the mouth of the Ohio, and 
$5,000,000 for the protection of the Sacramento Valley in Cali- 
fornia. 

Great saving of property has been effected by the United 
States Weather Bureau in the Department of Agriculture. 



234 COMMUNITY CIVICS 

Just as the movements of a ship or of a railroad train may be 
reported day by day, and hour by hour, by telegraph, so the 
g . J appearance and movement of a storm center or of 
the Weather a cold wave or of a flood are reported from a 
Bureau multitude of observing stations. There are central 

weather-forecasting stations at Chicago, New Orleans, Denver, 
San Francisco, Portland, Ore., and Washington, D.C. Weather 




Great Damage is Caused by Floods 

forecasts are made up at these points from observations tele- 
graphed in from observing stations, and within two hours are 
telegraphed to about i,6oo stations, from which they are further 
distributed daily to about 90,000 mail addresses, to all news- 
papers, and made available to 5,500,000 telephone subscribers. 

"It may be said without exaggeration that the San Francisco oflSice of the 
Weather Bureau has saved to the citrus fruit growers of California more 
money within the last five years than the annual appropriation for the 
entire Bureau during a period of twenty years." "The value of the orange 
bloom, vegetables, and strawberries protected and saved on a single night 
in a limited district in Florida . . . was reported at over $100,000." "The 
warnings issued for a single cold wave . . . resulted in saving over $3,500,- 
000 through the protection of property," "Signals displayed for a single 
hurricane are known to have detained in port on our Atlantic coast vessels 
valued with their cargoes at over $30,000,000." 



THE PROTECTION OF PROPERTY 235 

Flood warnings are sent in from about 60 centers along our 
rivers, enabling farmers to remove their cattle from bottom 
lands and to save their crops, and saving large sums to railroads 
and to business men and home owners in cities. 

Report on disastrous floods in your state. 

What measures have been taken in your state to prevent loss from floods ? 
If you live in a river town, study especially the provisions there made for 
flood protection. 

Investigate more fully how the Weather Bureau forecasts the weather. 

Learn how to read the weather map. Explain to class. (Bring copy of 
weather map to class.) 

How are business men in your city benefited by the Weather Bureau ? 

Report on the work of the United States Department of Agriculture in 
preventing loss of crops and live stock. How is this work of value to the 
business of your city? 

All states have laws to protect their citizens against the "ill- 
mannered" (see page 48) who do not respect property rights — 
thieves, burglars, highwaymen, vandals, sharpers. The police 
and others. The enforcement of these laws is left department 
largely, though not altogether, in the hands of local community 
agencies. Townships have their constables, counties their 
sheriffs and deputy sheriffs, and cities their police. New York 
City had reached a population of 300,000 before it abandoned 
the plan of police protection at night by volunteers who pursued 
other occupations during the day. To-day it has a police force 
of more than 10,000 men, organized like an army. At the 
head of the police force in most cities is a police commissioner , 
or chief of police ^ usually appointed by, and responsible to, the 
mayor or other head of the city government. In a few cities he 
is appointed by the governor of the state. Every large city is 
divided into precincts, each with its police station in charge of a 
captain, who directs all police operations in his precinct. 

It is the duty of the police department to maintain order. It 
regulates traffic; keeps order where crowds gather; aids the 
fire department at fires and the health department in enforcing 



236 



COMMUNITY CIVICS 



its regulations ; controls vice; restores lost property to its owners 
and lost cli'Mren to their homes; renders aid in case of accident 
Service of and calamity. Uniformed men patrol the streets 
the police ^^y ^^d night, and ''plain clothes" men quietly 

go about with eyes open for suspicious characters. There 
are policemen on foot, policemen on horseback, policemen 
on bicycles and motorcycles and in motor cars, and, where there 
is a water front, policemen in boats. 




State Police of Pennsylvania 



The police of American cities are, as a rule, courageous men, 
loyal to the interests of the community. Generally speaking, 
CorruDtion however, police departments have not been as 
in police highly efficient as fire departments. They have been 

epartments j^ore frequently subject to corrupt influences. The 
reasons for this we shall consider in a later chapter. 

It has been noted above that in some cases more or less 
control is exercised over the city police department by the 



THE PROTECTION OF PROPERTY 237 

state government, as in the appointment and removal of 
police commissioners by the governor of the state. In a few 
instances there is an organized state police. Texas state control 
has her "rangers" who protect her borders against ^^ police 
raids. In Pennsylvania there is a well-organized state police, 
or ''constabulary/' which has many times proved its efi&ciency 
in bringing criminals to justice, in quelling riots in mining 
centers, and especially in affording protection to remote rural 
communities. 

The proper lighting of the public streets is an important 
factor in the protection of property as well as in street 
personal safety. lighting 

Make a detailed study of the organization of the police department of your 
city (see the provisions of your city charter and the reports of the depart- 
ment published by the city) . Investigate such points as the following : 

Is the head of the department an individual, or a group of individuals? 
How is the head appointed ? To whom is it directly responsible ? 

The number and location of police stations (locate on a map of the city). 
In what precinct is your school? Your home? 

The different branches of police service and their uses (patrolmen, bicycle- 
men, etc.). 

From whom does the patrolman whose "beat" includes your school take 
orders ? How does he communicate with his superior officer while on duty? 

Police service as a vocation : qualifications for; how appointment as a 
policeman is secured; compensation; opportunities for advancement; the 
daily routine of a policeman; etc. 

Is the method of appointing policemen in your city a good one? Ex- 
plain your answer. 

Extent of state control over your city police department. 

Investigate and report on 
The state police of Pennsylvania ; 
The Texas Rangers ; 
The mounted police of Canada. 

Describe the street lighting system of your city. 

Report on the history of street lighting in your city. 

Look up the story of Benjamin Franklin's invention of a street lamp. 



2j8 



(•()MMllNir\ CIVICS 



ViiiuIiiHniu 



A jj;i'c;il (I(mI oI |)r(>|)('rl\' is dcsl loycd or injiiiiMl I)y Viindals. 
'V\\v oiij^iiKil Vandals were a liihc ol (iciiiiMiiic peoples who 
in\;ided souliicin and weslern IOur()|H' in (lie Middle 
Aj;es, and who were noU'd for (heir deshiuiiveness 
ol the heanlilnl l)uildin}!;s and oIIum" evidences ol" Roman eivil- 
izalion. There seem lo he "vandals" in almost every com- 
nnmily. Sometimes \and.dism is wanton, that is, it. results 
IVom an apparent love of heinj'; destructive. Most often it is 
])UiTly lhoujj;htless. I'Vw |)eople wonld knowinj^ly injure the 
property of another if they would sto|) lo think of their feelings 
if another should injure llirir pro|)erty. It is a ease of "had 
manners." Moreovei', it is no! a. *'s(iuare deal" lo injure 
anolhi'i's |)i()pt'rl\' while expeilinji; one's own property lo he 
secui'e. When \andalism occurs in a connnnnily it creates ii 
j^eneral f(>i'lin}j; of insi'curity and destroys the sense of freedom. 
ruhlu jirojx'rly is often more likely to sulTer from vandalism 
I hail private properly. Some |)eople will mar the walls of 
puhiii hmidini'js, oi make their lloors filthy with e.xpeetonilion 
wiien lhe\' wonld nol ihink ol doinjj; so in private huildin^s. 
'i'hey will hreak shinhheiN' in pnhlit parks, or despoil public 
llower heds, when they would nol think o[ enteriufj; private 
premises for such |)urposes. Thei-e seems lo he a feeling that 
public i)roperty helonjj^s to no ivne. or else that , since it is public, 
an\' one is at liberty to do as he phases with it. This, of course, 
is foolish, it is as if a stockholder In a business corpoiation 
sliould injure or deslro\' the corpoiation propi-rlw forjj;et tiiijjj 
that he owned a ^;hare in il and surhMcd a share of the loss. 



Is \;uu|jilisin c«>mmon in your community ? What iiiv some ol its most 
tommou forms? Art- IIutc cvidriu'es of il in your sciiool ? 

luspj'd llu" court liDUsi". p«)st olVuc, niul other public l)uil(liu^.s and n-port 
e\ itieiues t,)f xiindiilism. 

Is \;iU(l;ilism jusi iliiiMc on I l;illo\vc\'n i' I )isi uss. 

I'A'ery slate in the Union has its iMdliona/ diuird, or organized 
niiUliti, U)v the defense oi llu> state, it is frecpientlx- calle(l 



TUK PROTECTION OV PROPERTY 239 

out. by l.hc governor, who is ils commajiHcr in chief, to quell 
riots, or U> protect ])ro])(:rty in times of (h'sturf)ance when 
the local police are unable to handle the situation, jhe National 
It is also frequently used in times of [)ul)lic disaster, Guard 
as in the case of floorls, to f)rote(:t property and t,o aid in 
various ways in restoring order. 

Prior to 1Q16, the state militia constituted a s(M:ond line of 
defense in our national army, the Regular Army of tin; IJnilcd 
States being the first line. In time of w.ir, the ^^^ ^^^ 
President of the Unit.ed States coulfl call u[)on the National 
governors of the states for the use of the militia, "^"^^ 
the members reenlisting as inrlividuals for national service. Jn 
1916, when the militia was needed for service on the Mexican 
border. Congress passed a National Defense Act, which made the 
National Guard of the several states a i)art of the first, line of 
defense and subject to call for n;i,lion;d s(;rvice (exactly lik<; the 
forces of the Regular Army. 

Our nation has never beli(;v(;d in ;i large; st.anding ;irrny. 
Before the war with Oermany th(; Regular Army consisted of 
less than 100,000 men. Hut when w;i,r was declared the Regular 
Army and the National Ciuard were increased in size by (enlist- 
ment, and the selective draft i)ut. int.o of)eration (see pag(; 89), 
with the result that within a short time we had a great Nat ional 
Army of approximately 5,000,000 men. Since th(; w;i,r we ha.v(; 
gone back to a i)eace-time basis with a standing army (the 
Regular Army) of not more than 175,000 men.' A large army is 
a great burden of expense. Many, also, believe it to be a menace 
to the liberties of the people and to our peace with the world. 

We have never had the same fear of a large navy that we have 

had of a large army. Our navy has grown gradually M,nd its 

trrowth was given a tremendous impetus by the ^. ^ 
^ '^ . . -^ The Navy 

World War, so that at present it is suri)assed in 

strength only by that of Great Britain. It is the defenrler of 

1 As l.licsc- lines arc written Congress Is debating whether to jtuihorizc an arrny of 175,000 
men, which is the nunrihcr flcsired by the Secretary of War, or a smaller force. 




Will H. Low 
West Point Military Academy 
From a mural painting by Will H. Low in the State 
Education Building, Albany, N.Y. 
240 



THE PROTECTION OF PROPERTY 



241 



our commerce on the seas, and, in view of our isolated position 
with reference to other great powers, it is our first defender in 
case of attack from abroad. But navies, even more than armies, 
are an enormous burden of expense to a nation. When one 
nation increases its naval power, other nations feel bound to do 
the same, until the burden has become almost unbearable. 




A Unit in Our "First Line of Defense" 
U.S.S. Oklahoma. One of our most modern " super-dreadnaughts" 



Since the World War there has been renewed discussion of the 
possibility of an agreement among the great powers gradually to 
reduce their naval armaments. 

Investigate and report on the organization and strength of the National 
Guard of your state. 

What are the qualifications for enlistment in the state militia? In the 
Regular Army? 

Prepare ten-minute papers, or speeches, on the following topics : "Team 
Work in the Army;" "Team Work in the Navy;" "Team Work between 
the Army and the Navy in War." (Different members of the class choose 
different topics.) 

What are the arguments for and against disarmament? 

The Navy is often spoken of as our "first line of defense." What does 
this mean? 



242 COMMUNITY CIVICS 

READINGS 

Reports of the city fire and police departments. 

Safeguarding the Home Against Fire. National Board of Fire Underwriters, New 

York City. 
Wilcox, D. F., The American City, chap, vi, Municipal Insurance (fire and police 

protection). (Macmillan.) 
Beard, Charles A., American City Government (The Century Co.), pp. 282-286; 

158-189. (Fire and police protection.) 
Bruere, Henry, The New City Government, pp. 263-313. 
Munro, W. B., The Principles and Methods of Municipal Administration, chap, vii 

(police), and pp. 122-166 (water supply). 
McAdoo, William G., Guarding a Great City. 
Dunn, Arthur W., Community Civics and Rural Life, chap. xvi. (Protection of crops 

and livestock.) 
The American City (magazine) contains much valuable material. 154 Nassau St., 

New York City. 
Federal Executive Departments as Sources of Information, U.S. Bureau of Education 

Bulletin, 1919, No. 74. 
Farmers' Mutual Fire Insurance, U.S. Department of Agriculture Bulletin No. 530. 
The Weather Bureau (a pamphlet), Government Printing Ofl&ce. 
Flood Control, Water Supply Paper 234, U.S. Geological Survey. 



CHAPTER XIV 
COMMUNICATION 

Team work is impossible without prompt and effective means 
of communication. 

Tell what you know about the value of signals in getting team work in a 
football or baseball team. 

Discuss the importance of means of communication in conducting military 
operations. What means were used for this purpose in our army in France? . 

How were military movements reported and directed in the Revolution- 
ary War? 

Andrew Jackson's victory at New Orleans was won a month after the 
War of 1812 was officially ended. How did this happen? 

What were some of the methods used by the American Indians to convey 
information between distant points? 

One of the most interesting chapters in history is that relating 
to the development of means of communication. Language 
itself is the most important of these means. It is Language 
not altogether clear what the first steps were in ^f communi- 
the development of spoken language; but we cation 
know that among uncivilized peoples conversation is aided, and 
often largely carried on, by signs made with the hands. Written 
language certainly developed from the use of pictures, which were 
gradually curtailed into hieroglyphics , such as were used by the 
ancient Egyptians, and finally developed into the alphabet, each 
letter of which was originally a picture. 

A story is told of a group of American Indians who some years ago visited 
an eastern city. They could not make themselves understood, nor could 
they understand others, and became very lonely. They were taken to 
visit a deaf-and-dumb institution, where they were quite delighted to find 
that they could converse freely by the use of a natural sign language. 

243 



244 



COMMUNITY CIVICS 



Uncivilized peoples are in the habit of conveying ideas in the most 
astonishing ways. For example, among a certain African tribe the gift of 
a tooth brush carries a message of affection. These Africans take great 
pride in their white teeth, and the tooth brush carries the message, "As I 
think of my teeth morning, noon, and night, so I think often of you." 

To illustrate the development of the alphabet from pictures, our letter 
m represents the ears of an owl, which in Egypt was called mu, and the pic- 
ture of which, later reduced to the ears, came to represent the sound of m. 




Communication on the Battle Front 



The fascinating story of the development of language cannot 
be told here. It is referred to because we are likely to forget 
what an important factor it is in making com- 
munity life possible. Inability to use a cgmmon 
language prevents intercourse and team work. 
Large numbers of men drafted in the American 
army were unable to understand the English language. Between 
30,000 and 40,000 illiterates were taken in the first draft, and it 
is said that there were nearly 700,000 men of draft age in the 
United States who could neither read nor write. They could not 
sign their names, nor read orders or instructions. They had to be 



Effects of 
illiteracy 
and inability 
to use 
English 



COMMUNICATION 245 

separated and taught, thus greatly delaying the complete organ- 
ization of our available fighting forces. Inability to use a 
common language is equally an obstacle in industrial life, for 
non-English speaking workmen are unable to understand instruc- 
tions or to read signs and warnings. Many accidents are due to 
this cause. It is said that approximately 5^^ million of our 
population above ten years of age cannot read or write in any 
language, and that 5 million of our foreign population cannot 
use English. An active campaign is now being conducted to 
teach English to foreigners and to eradicate illiteracy. Bills 
have recently been introduced in Congress to provide federal 
aid for this purpose. 

If the productive labor value of an illiterate is less by only 50 cents a 
day than that of an educated man or woman, the country is losing $825,000,- 
000 a year through illiteracy. . . . The Federal Government and the States 
spend millions of dollars in trying to give information to the people in rural 
districts about farming and home making. Yet 3,700,000, or 10 per cent, 
of our country folk cannot read or write a word. They cannot read a 
bulletin on agriculture, a farm paper, a food-pledge card, a liberty-loan 
appeal, a newspaper, the Constitution of the United States, or their Bibles, 
nor can they keep personal or business accounts. An uninformed democ- 
racy is not a democracy. A people who cannot have means of access to 
the mediums of public opinion and to the messages of the President and the 
acts of Congress can hardly be expected to understand the full meaning 
of this war, to which they all must contribute in life or property or labor. — 
Secretary Lane, Annual Report, 1918, p. 30. From letter to the President. 

What is illiteracy? What is the difference between an illiterate and a non- 
English speaking person? 

Debate (or discuss) : 

Resolved, That all persons of sound mind in the United States should be 
required by law to attend school until they are able to speak, read, and write 
English fluently. 

Resolved, That the elimination of illiteracy and the teaching of English to 
foreigners should be left wholly to the states without interference or aid from 
the national government. 

What can you find out about the number of illiterates in your city? In 
your state? 



246 



COMMUNITY CIVICS 



What is being done in your city and state to eliminate illiteracy? To 
teach EngHsh to foreigners? 

Why are foreigners required to read sections from the Constitution of the 
United States before receiving their naturalization papers? 

What does "knowing how to read" mean? 

Debate: Resolved, That no native-born American should be permitted to 
vote who cannot read intelligently. 




Arrival of the Mail, Tanana, Alaska 

Next to language itself, the most important invention for the 
communication of ideas is the art of printing. It made possible 
The printing ^^ book, the magazine, the newspaper. The 
press and writer of this book is enabled to communicate 
newspapers ^^\^ boys and girls whom he will never see, by 
means of the printed page and the pictures which the book 
contains. By the same means the ideas of people who lived long 
ago have been handed down to us, and the ideas of to-day will 
be passed on to later generations. Most wonderful is the modern 
newspaper, which daily carries into almost every home of the 
land the important happenings in the world during the preceding 
twenty-four hours. City newspapers may issue several editions 
during the day. The newspaper enables the merchant to com- 



COMMUNICATION 



247 



municate, through advertisements, with possible buyers, and 
the business man to keep posted regarding trade conditions and 
market prices. Most newspapers have special departments for 
different classes of readers — a woman's page, a children's 
column, a page devoted to sports, perhaps another to educa- 
tional matters. Most of them also have a department in which 
individuals may ask questions or express their own opinions 




United States Mail en Route, Alaska 

regarding questions of the day. The "local newspaper" in the 
small town, with a circulation that seldom extends far beyond 
the county in which it is published, is of the greatest value in 
stimulating a community spirit. 

The first amendment to the Constitution of the United States 
provides that: The right of 

Congress shall make no law . . . abridging the freedom of ^®® speech 
speech or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble. . . . 

The right of free speech and of a free press is a very sacred 
one, and its maintenance is one of the chief safeguards of democ- 
racy. It is the means by which public opinion is formed and 
made known; and public opinion is one of the chief means of 
control in a democracy. It controls the conduct of individuals, 



248 COMMUNITY CIVICS 

and it controls the actions of government. The representatives 
and leaders of the people in the government seek constantly to 
know what public opinion is, and the public press is one of the 
chief channels through which they may find out. On the 
other hand, leaders and parties seek to form public opinion, to 
lead the people to think in certain ways and to support certain 
ideas. The press affords an effective means for doing this. 

It is easy to see that both good leaders and bad leaders may 
thus create public opinion, that both good and bad ideas may 
be spread through the press. During the war 
we heard much about German propaganda. This 
means that ideas were systematically spread to create a public 
opinion favorable to the German cause. It was done largely by 
rumors, springing from no one knows where, and spreading 
by word of mouth. But it was also accomplished through the 
newspapers, by news items and stories that appeared to be true 
and that were published innocently enough in most cases, but 
that afterward were found to be false. 

It is not to be supposed that all propaganda is harmful or 
dangerous. There is propaganda in good causes, or on both 
The develop- ^ides of a disputed question. By this means public 
ment of opinion is educated. When the peace conference at 

pu c opinion pg^j.-g proposed a plan for a League of Nations, it 
was at once taken up for discussion through the newspapers and 
magazines. People who believed in the idea organized a cam- 
paign of publicity to support the plan and to create a public 
opinion for it, while those opposed to it were equally active 
in their attempt to create a public opinion against it. In this 
way the people became informed regarding the question, pro- 
vided they read both sides of the discussion and not one only. 
Leaders in the community may conduct propaganda through 
the newspapers in behalf of better schools, better streets, public 
playgrounds, prohibition, or any other cause. 

The good citizen cannot well get along without the newspaper 



COMMUNICATION 249 

and magazine. But he needs to keep in mind the fact that news 
items may be in error, and that the opinions expressed by editors 
and other writers usually represent the opinions of but a single 
group of people, which may be large or small, right or wrong. 
In most cases these writers are sincere, but there is always the 
chance for error. The intelligent citizen will not base his own 
opinions and actions solely on what he reads in one paper or 
magazine or book, but will seek to understand all sides of a 
question. He is helped to do this by the great variety of pubhca- 
tions available representing every shade of behef, and by the 
freedom of speech and of the press under our system of govern- 
ment. 

Freedom of speech and of the press does not mean that a 
citizen may always say anything he pleases in public. At no 
time has one the right to attack the character of The control of 
another by false or malicious statements. This ^^^ ^ , 
constitutes slander, or libel, and may be punished free press 
by the courts. In time of war freedom of speech and of the press 
may be restricted to an extent that would not be tolerated in 
time of peace, because if absolute freedom were permitted, 
informaltion might be made public that would be helpful to the 
enemy, and propaganda started that would be dangerous to the 
pubhc safety. But, even in war time, the people of a democracy 
chafe under restrictions upon free speech and a free press, and it 
is often a delicate question to determine how far such restriction 
is justifiable or wise. 

Make a report on the invention of the printing press. 

Make a list of the newspapers published in your city. Indicate the 
"politics" of each of them. Do these papers all take the same position in 
regard to public questions of national interest? In regard to public questions 
of purely local interest? Bring in illustrations of differences on such ques- 
tions. How can you tell which of two papers is right when they differ on an 
important question? 

Find out from your father what newspapers he reads regularly. Tabulate 
the result for the entire class. 



250 



COMMUNITY CIVICS 



Which is the most influential newspaper in your city? In your state? 
Why are these papers so influential? (Consult at home with regard to these 
questions, and report in class.) 

Do you read a newspaper regularly? Do you read more than one? 

Examine carefully the newspapers you take at home and make a list of 



the different "departments" (such as "sports,' 
news," etc.). 



'society news," "local 




Transportation and Communication 
Terminal Railway Station (right) and City Post Office (left), Washington, D.C. 

What part of the paper do you turn to first when you read it? Ask your 
father and mother and other members of your family this question. Why 
the difference, if any? 

What is the difference between a news story and an editorial? 

What is the value of cartoons in a newspaper? Do you study them? Do 
they convey a story to you? Make a collection of cartoons that you think 
are particularly good and explain what each means. 

Is any propaganda being conducted now in the newspapers you read? 
If so, explain what it is. 

To what extent are newspaper and magazine advertisements useful in 
your own home? 

Arrange for a visit to a newspaper oiB&ce. Afterwards make a report on 
"the making of a newspaper." 

What quahties must a good newspaper reporter possess? A good news- 
paper editor? Why, in each case? 



COMMUNICATION 251 

As a class, get up a newspaper. (Coordinate this with EngHsh work.) Let 
various members of the class be reporters. Elect one or more editors. Gather 
first-hand news, and also items of interest from the daily newspapers. Have a 
department of national and world news, one of local news, and other depart- 
ments as desired. Look especially for items relating to subjects studied in 
your civics class. 

Report on the work of the A.ssociated Press, or similar news agency. 

Congress was given power by the Constitution "to establish 
post offices and post roads." There had been a postal service 
in the colonies before the Revolution. During the p^g^ offices 
Revolution Benjamin Franklin was made Post- and post 
master General, and he made the service as effective 
as it could well be made under the conditions that existed in 
those times. The plan that he devised was continued after 
the Constitution was adopted. In those days mails were sent 
from New York to Boston and to Philadelphia two or three times 
a week. They were carried on horseback or by stage and by 
boat. Sometimes a month was consumed by a trip that can 
now be made in a half-day. Postage cost from six cents to 
twenty-five cents for each letter, according to the distance it 
was carried, and had to be paid in cash in advance. Postage 
stamps were not introduced until 1847. Often mail was allowed 
to accumulate until there was enough to pay for the trip. The 
isolation of a remote rural community can well be imagined 
where the difficulties of communication were so great, and 
where the scarcity of money made postage an important item. 

In 1 918 there were 54,345 post offices in the United States 
managed by the Post Office Department at Washington, 
besides nearly 600 in the Philippines managed by Rural mail 
the War Department, and a few in the Panama ^0"*®^ 
Canal Zone. Of the 3,030 counties in the United States, 3,008 
had rural mail routes aggregating more than a million miles in 
extent, serving more than 6 million families, and costing for 
operation more than 53 million dollars. This cost, however, 



252 



COMMUNITY CIVICS 



amounts to only about $1.90 for each person served, or a little 
more than one cent for each piece of mail handled. The aim is 
to make the postal service pay for itself, and in 191 8 the receipts 
exceeded the expenditures by more than 60 million dollars. 

The Post Office De- 
partment not only 

Special serv- provides 
ices of the r .1 

Post Office for the 
Department transpor- 
tation of ordinary 
mail, but through its 
post offices it sells 
money orders for the 
transmission of money 
safely through the 
mails; it operates the 
parcel post; it admin- 
isters the postal sav- 
ings system (see p. 
317). One of the in- 
teresting divisions of 
the Post Office De- 
partment is the Divi- 
sion of Dead Letters, 
to which is returned all mail that fails to reach its destination. 
In 1 918 there were returned to the Dead Letter Division 
14,451,953 pieces of mail. In these "dead letters" there were 
drafts, checks, money orders, and loose money, amounting to 
$4,194,839.68. The failure of this mail to reach its proper 
destination is due in very large measure to carelessness in 
addressing and to failure to place on the envelope or package 
a return address. A great deal of loss and inconvenience 
could be avoided, and much labor and expense saved for the 
postal service, if every one would see that every piece of mail 




Coiirtesy American Magazine of Art 

The Mail Train 
A painting by F. D. Miller 



COMMUNICATION 253 

sent out is properly addressed and stamped, and has a return 
address in the upper left-hand corner. 

The efficiency of the postal service depends very largely upon 
the means of transportation, from steamship and railway lines 
down to the country roads. Nothing else, perhaps, xransporta- 
has stimulated the improvement of roads so much tion of the 
as the rural mail service. It is the power granted ^^^ ^ 
by the Constitution to Congress to establish post roads that 
enables the federal government to aid the states in road improve- 
ment (see p. 272). The development of fast mail trains and the 
introduction of motor-truck service have been important steps 
in the improvement of the postal service in city and country. 
The latest development is the transportation of mail by air- 
plane. An aerial mail route between Washington, D. C, and 
New York City was estabhshed May 15, 1918, over which a 
round trip is made daily, regardless of weather conditions. The 
flying time from Washington to New York, with a stop at 
Philadelphia, averages two hours and thirty minutes, or one half 
the time of the fastest trains. Other cities are connected by 
aerial mail routes, and l^e Post Office Department is planning 
an extensive airplane mail service from the Atlantic to the Pacific, 
with various side lines; also to the West Indies, Panama, and 
South America. 

If it can be arranged for with your local post office authorities, make an 
excursion through your local main post office, tracing carefully all the opera- 
tions necessary to handle the mail of your city. Write up a careful report. 

How is the postmaster in your city chosen? Are all postmasters in the 
country chosen in the same way? 

What are first-class, second-class, third-class, and fourth-class post offices? 

What constitute first-class, second-class, third-class, and fourth-class mail? 
What is the rate of postage on each? 

Who is the Postmaster General of the United States at the present time? 

What can you find out about the International Postal Union? 

Has rural mail dehvery led to road improvement in your state? If so, 
give instances. 



254 



COMMUNITY CIVICS 



We need only mention the important part played by the 

telegraph, the submarine cable, and radio-communicatkn, in 

The telegraph binding together our nation and the world as a 

whole. Without them the modern newspaper, 

with its daily news from every corner of the globe, would be 




United States Postal Service Airplane 
The pilot has his route map fastened to his knee for ready reference. 

impossible, and our cooperation in the great World War would 
have been extremely difficult. Although the first telegraph line 
in the United States was owned and operated by the government 
as a part of the postal service, the telegraph service of the 
country has since been in the hands of private corporations; 
except that during the war the Post Office Department took 
over the management of the telegraph and the telephone, as the 
Railroad Administration took over the transportation lines. 



COMMUNICATION 



255 



The telephone, which we take so much as a matter of course in 

our daily lives, has practically revolutionized community life in 

less than fifty years. We can hardly overestimate „, , , 

, . . -11 • r The telephone 

its value in connection with the transaction of 

business, in promoting social life, in the protection of the com- 




The First Telephone Message from Washington, D.C. 
TO Havana, Cuba 

President Harding is the fifth from the left. Next to him on the right is the 
Director-General of the Pan-American Union and next to him is Secretary of State 
Hughes. General Pershing is the third person from the left end of the picture. 



munity and of the home. It has lifted the farmer out of his 
isolation, for there are 8,000 rural telephone systems in the 
United States, serving two million farm homes. As we sit 
in our homes we may converse with ease with persons in almost 
any part of the United States. And now the wireless telephone 
is coming into use. At the close of the recent war American 
aviators were talking with one another, and receiving orders 
from the ground, by this means; and since then wireless te- 



256 COMMUNITY CIVICS 

lephony has been developed so that, while this chapter is being 
written, the President of the United States, in Washington, has 
conversed with the President of Cuba, in Havana. 

Who was Samuel F. B. Morse? Who is Alexander Graham Bell? Mar- 
coni? 

Make note of any items found in the newspapers and magazines regarding 
the advances made in wireless telegraphy and telephony. 

What particular advantages has the telephone brought to your home? 

What advantages has the telephone brought to your community in rela- 
tion to business life? To social life? Safety of life and property? 

Arrange a visit to a telephone exchange, and report on what you see. 
How can you cooperate to secure good telephone service in your community? 

Do you have more than one telephone company in your city? If so why 
is it? What are the advantages and disadvantages of a single telephone 
system in a city? 

Write a theme on "Modem Means of Communication and the Growth of a 
World Community." 

READINGS 

In Lessons in Community and National Life: 
Series' B: Lesson 10, Telephone and telegraph. 
Series C: Lesson i, The war and aeroplanes. 
Lesson 9, Inventions. 
The development of writing. 

Picture Writing of the American Indians, loth Annual Report of the U.S. Bureau 
of Ethnology, 1 888-1 889. This is profusely illustrated and very interesting. 
The volume may be in the public library. It may be difficult to obtain, other- 
wise, unless through a representative in Congress. 
Tylor, E. B., Anthropology, chaps, iv-vii (D. Appleton & Co.), and Early History 

of Mankind, chaps, ii-v (Henry Holt & Co.) . 
Given, J. L., The Making of a Newspaper (Henry Holt & Co.). 
Annual Reports of the Postmaster General of the United States. 
Report of the Secretary of the Interior, 1918, pp. 13-24, 29-31, for a discussion of 
the necessity of eliminating illiteracy and teaching English to foreigners. 
There is much magazine hterature on this subject. 



CHAPTER XV 

HIGHWAYS AND TRANSPORTATION 

Two boys sat on a box in the May sunshine and watched a 
fast freight train rattle by. . . . 

" Here's a funny thing," said Tom. "If you touch those rails 
you touch something that touches Chicago and New York." 

"And Pittsburgh," Ranny added. 

They climbed down from the box and laid ceremonial hands 
upon the track and were duly thrilled.^ 

This observation of Tom and Ranny, if carried a little further, 
is one to thrill even older people than they; — the thought of 
being "in touch" with people and communities Highways the 
everywhere by means of the highways that cover channel of 
the earth as with a net. We step out of our door- *^®°P^'**io^ 
way into the city street and at once "touch something that 
touches" every other doorway in our city; and the city street 
is but a link in the network of highways that also includes 
country road, railway, and ocean route, and that "touches" 
not only Chicago and New York and Pittsburgh, but every 
community on the face of the earth. It will lead us anywhere, 
and it brings to our door, from near and far, the products of 
men's labor to supply our daily wants. Highways are the 
physical bonds that bind people together into communities, and 
the channels through which cooperation takes place. 

"The problems of the street are the first, the last, and the 
greatest of the material problems of the city," says one writer. 
"it is the street that makes the city possible to begin with, 

^ From "Young-Man-Afraid-Of-His-Future," by Howard Brubaker, in Harper's 
Monthly Magazine, May, 192 1. 

257 



258 COMMUNITY CIVICS- 

that permits the city's growth year by year, and that finally 
must check the increase of population and business by sheer 
The problem inability to provide opportunity for movement, 
of the street Here, by the cooperation of the whole community, a 
free way is provided, an 'open road,' a channel for traffic and 
transportation for the use of all alike. . . . The street is the 
symbol of the free city wherein all cooperate to secure oppor- 
tunity for all." ^ 

Another writer says: "The streets of a city have been likened 
to the skeleton of the human body which fixes and determines 
the general contour of the body. Once established they are 
difficult and expensive to alter. Boston spent between 1829 and 
1 910 about $40,000,000 widening, straightening, and extending 
streets." ^ An illustration of the difficulty and cost of altering 
streets when they are once fixed is found in Des Moines, Iowa: 

The northwest section of Des Moines has long been one of the best and 

most populous residential sections of the city. This section never had a 

satisfactory thoroughfare leading direct to the main business 

The expen- section. The car line makes no less than eight turns in 

ence of 

Des Moines going about two miles, and general traffic follows about the 

same route, zigzagging around the two sides of the squares 

in order to avoid grades and poor pavements. 

There has always been a natural diagonal way of easy grades from the 
down-town district. . . . Thirty years ago this was a ravine, generally filled 
with flood water after a heavy rain, but about that time it was being pro- 
vided with a large concrete box culvert, now known as Birds' Run sewer. 
The ravine was then filled up and the adjoining land reclaimed for use. At 
the time the sewer was built it was proposed to make a street up through the 
valley which followed the old ravine, and it could have been done for less 
than $20,000 at that time. But objectors killed the proposition. Dwellings 
of the poorest kind and cheap business buildings were erected all through 
this district, until the ravine and sewer were almost forgotten. 

But the northwest section was growing rapidly. The inconvenience and 
increased cost of the poor traffic were being felt more and more seriously every 
year. So in 1916 the Town Planning Committee proposed to the City Coun- 

^ D. F. Wilcox, in The American City, p. 28. 

2 Charles A. Beard, American City Government, p. 242. 



HIGHWAYS AND TRANSPORTATION 259 

cil, and the City Council immediately adopted, the necessary resolutions for 
the construction of a thoroughfare no feet wide, following this Birds' Run 
sewer and to be called Keosauqua Way. 

Hardly had the City Council taken hold of the project vigorously with the 
intention of seeing it through, when opposition meetings were held all 
through the district and many protests were filed. These objections were 
finally overcome, however, by showing the advantages to be gained, and espe- 
cially by showing the effect that the highway would have in increasing land 
values. 




Keosauqua Way, Des Moines, Iowa 
This photograph shows buildings that are being removed for the construction of 
the diagonal highway connecting the business center with one of the best residential 
sections of the ci*:y. 

Thirty years ago Keosauqua Way could have been built for less than 
$20,000; to-day it will cost $600,000, not counting the paving, During those 
years millions of dollars have been spent in time and inconvenience by the 
people going back and forth over the old crooked and roundabout way.i 

What is meant by one of the writers quoted above when he 
said that "it is the street that permits the city's growth year 
by year, and that finally must check the increase ^i,^ ;«.,^oo 

X 116 inCicelS^ 

of population and business by sheer inability to ing burden of 
provide opportunity for movement" is made *^® ®*'®®* 
clearer by another statement in the same book (written in 1904): 

^ Frank E. Wetherell, in The American City (magazine), October, 1920, p. ii^. 



26o COMMUNITY CIVICS 

The lower part of Manhattan Island is the business center of a metropoli- 
tan community of nearly five million people. And yet if skyscrapers were 
built everywhere that buildings now stand in the district below Fourteenth 
Street, ofi&ce room could be provided for four or five times the amount of 
business now conducted there. New York streets, so aptly called "city 
canons," simply could not accommodate the traffic that would be involved 
in this multiplication of business. 

Another writer says : 

London and Paris as well as New York and Chicago have found their 
thoroughfare systems choked with the ever-increasing burden that has been 
thrown upon them. . . . Street traffic is increasing so rapidly that roadways 
that a few decades ago seemed adequate for all time have become so con- 
gested as seriously to menace the prosperity of the city. Street traffic is 
increasing much more rapidly than population. If the growth of street traffic 
merely kept pace with the growth of population, the problem of making 
adequate provision for the future would be sufficiently difficult. It is prob- 
able, however, that the street burden will under normal conditions increase 
twice as fast as population. ... As a city spreads and distances become too 
great for walking, it is natural that the per capita number of rides by vehicle 
and car should increase. . . . The result has been that as various cities have 
grown in population and area, a point has been reached where it has become 
physically impossible to handle a sufficient number of street cars at a rea- 
sonable speed over the surface of the streets to carry the traffic. ^ 

The introduction of the automobile has been an important 
factor in the increasing congestion of city streets. "The private 
The effect of automobile takes from two to twenty times as 
the auto- much street space per passenger carried as does 

"^° ^ the street car." While "in 1910 there were 500,000 

motor cars in use in the United States, in 1918 there were 
6,088,000." On the other hand, the use of the motor truck tends 
to relieve street congestion because of its greater capacity, speed, 
and ease of movement as compared with the horse-drawn truck; 
but the extent to which the motor truck can be economically 
used depends upon the adequacy of the thoroughfare system. 

Extreme congestion means not only that street car service is disrupted, 
but that all trucking and commercial traffic is slowed down. The cost of 

1 Robert H. Whitten, in The American City (magazine), October, 1920, p. 351. 



HIGHWAYS AND TRANSPORTATION 



261 



trucking is a much larger factor in the cost of most goods than is railroad 
freight. Many products are transferred by vehicle through city streets a 
half-dozen or more times before they reach the consumer. If, through street 
congestion, the time and cost of trucking goods are doubled, the toll due to 
congestion is certainly enormous. It is paid in part by the public in higher 
prices. It also places a serious handicap on city commerce and industry .^ 




Flfth Avenue, New York City 
Note the congestion of traflQc, and the electric device for traffic regulation 

If the rapid growth of our cities and the invention of the 
automobile could have been foreseen, a great deal of the present 
difficulty of city transportation might have been jj^g impor- 
avoided by wise planning of the city streets. Such tance of 
planning would have included ample provision for ^ ^ ^" 
direct thoroughfares from one part of the city to another, such 
as the new diasgonal highway in Des Moines, or the radiating 
street system of Washington or of Indianapolis. It would also 

1 Robert H. Whitten, in The American City, October, 1920, p. 352. 



262 



COMMUNITY CIVICS 




Transportation in the City Street 
Surface and elevated transportation, Herald Square, New York City 



have allowed much greater width to many of the streets than is 
actually the case in most of our large cities. Failure to provide 
in advance for direct, wide highways has necessitated recon- 
struction in many cities, at enormous cost, as in the cases of 



fflGHWAYS AND TRANSPORTATION 263 

Des Moines and Boston already noted. Small cities that are 
rapidly growing, or that give promise of growth, have Httle 
excuse for failure to plan for the future, or for making such a 
mistake of judgment as that made by Des Moines twenty-five or 
thirty years ago. Such cities should profit by the experience of 
older and larger cities. 

Is the comparison of the streets of a city to the skeleton of the body a 
good one? 

In what respect are the streets of a city like the arteries of the human 

body? 

What is there in a city that might be compared to the nerves of the body? 

Explain. 

Is the street system of your city well planned to provide for the needs of 
transportation of people and commodities? In what respects do you think 
it is faulty? Study a street map of your city. 

What is the width of the street you live on? Of that on which your school 
is located? Are these streets wide enough? How do they compare in width 
with the principal business streets? 

Have you any narrow or crooked business streets in your city? If so, how 
did it happen? 

Has your city a problem of street congestion? If so, what are the causes? 
How is your city attempting to meet the problem? 

Explain fully why traffic tends to increase at least twice as rapidly as 
population. 

Write a theme on "The influence of the automobile on the growth of our 

city." 

Explain in detail how congestion of traffic tends to increase the price of 

food. 

What experience has your city had in widening or straightening streets, 
or in constructing new highways through the heart of the city? If there has 
been such experience, gather such facts as you can regarding the cost to the 
city. How was the cost met? 

Some of our largest cities have sought to rehcve congestion in 
the streets by the construction of elevated and subway systems 
of railways. Both of these methods of transporta- Efforts to 
tion have naturally been developed farthest in relieve 

, . , . ^11 r •^ congestion 

New York City which, m 1916, had over 1,600 miles 

of surface, elevated, and subway trackage over which nearly 



264 



COMMUNITY CIVICS 




HUDSON & MANHATTAN 



Hudson River Tubes 

A diagram showing subway tubes as they emerge from under the Hudson 

River and branch ofif in different directions at different levels 



_J 



HIGHWAYS AND TRANSPORTATION 265 

two billion passengers were carried in that year. More than 
600 miles of this trackage is included in New York's elevated and 
subway systems. The elevated and subway trains are almost 
always crowded, and at "rush hours" are packed to suffocation, 
but without apparent effect upon the congestion of traffic in the 
streets. 

In addition to a convenient general plan and a suitable width 
of streets, the method of construction is of great importance. 
Here again recent changes in modes of transporta- 
tion are an important factor. Old methods of 
paving do not stand the wear and tear of countless automobiles 
and ponderous motor trucks. The old "macadam" pavement, 
for example, made by rolHng crushed stone into a solid mass, 
quickly wears out under heavy traffic, although it may still be 
used under conditions of lighter traffic. The rough cobblestone 
pavement, once common in many cities, is not only noisy (less 
so, now, under rubber tires), but it impedes rapid movement of 
traffic. The most common paving materials in cities are granite 
blocks, vitrified brick, wooden blocks, and asphalt, each of which 
has its advantages under given conditions of traffic. 4 

Badly laid pavements have been the source of enormous waste 
of money. They quickly get out of repair, thus impeding traffic 
and requiring new expenditures of money for Expert direc- 
repair or rebuilding. Even with the best of tion and pub- 
pavements, constant inspection and prompt repair ^^ support 
of defects in the pavements are necessary in the interest of 
economy, of traffic facilitation, of appearance, and of health. 
The responsibility for street construction and repair is ordinarily 
placed with a department of pubHc works. The building of a 
street requires expert engineering and workmanship, which 
have too frequently not been provided. Under our more modern 
forms of city government (see Chapter XXVI) more attention 
is given than formerly to securing expert service in street con- 
struction. It is the common practice to assess the major part of 



266 COMMUNITY CIVICS 

the cost of street improvement against the owners of abutting 
property, on the ground that this property is most directly 
benefited. 

Proposals of street improvement are likely to be met with opposition from 
abutting property owners. Such improvements should of course not be 
undertaken without a careful weighing of the advantages against the costs, 
and a careful consideration of the interests of the entire community. Very 
often such opposition is short-sighted, as in the case of the construction of 
Keosauqua Way in Des Moines (see page 258). In that case, "without 
exception the abutting properties have more than doubled in value, some of 
them five times." Where "business property has been valued at $50 per 
front foot for years, owners are now refusing $200." The owner of "a four- 
family brick flat building valued at $14,000 to $16,000 was recently offered 
$42,000." 

Report on the history of the development of street railways in your city 
(i) with regard to their extension, (2) with regard to changes in motive 
power, (3) with regard to improvements in service. 

Report on the relation between the development of street railways service 
and the growth of different sections and suburbs of your city. 

Has street railway fare increased recently in your city? If so, why? Who 
determines what street railway fare shall be? Can the street railway com- 
pany increase the fare at will? Why? 

What materials are used for street pavements in your city? In your home 
street? In the street on which your school is located? In the principal 
business streets? Are these materials well chosen with regard to the use to 
which the streets are put? 

Get (or make) photographs of the different kinds of pavement in your city. 

Describe, with the use of diagrams, the methods of laying the different 
kinds of pavement. 

What control is exercised over street pavement in your city to see that 
it is well laid? 

Are there unpaved streets in your city? Pavements that have notoriously 
failed to wear well? Where are such streets? How does it happen that 
there are such streets? 

Are the pavements in your city kept in good repair? Who is responsible 
for street repair? If your street is in poor repair, how would you proceed to 
have it put in good repair? 

How is the cost of paving met in your city? The cost of street repairs? 
Are they met in the same way? 



HIGHWAYS AND TRANSPORTATION 267 

Do proposed street improvements meet with opposition! in your city? 
How does a householder proceed if he wants to protest against the improve- 
ment of his street? 

Who decides finally, in your city, whether a street shall be improved or 
not? 

Gather information regarding the effect of particular street improvements 
in your city on property values. 

What department of your city government has control over street con- 
struction? 

Arrange for an excursion to the office of your city engineer to inspect plans 
and drawings of street improvements now under way or proposed, and to 
have his duties explained. 

"The streets of a modern city are far more than mere high- 
ways for surface use. Railway cars run above and below as 
well as on the surface; messages, light, heat, and pubUc utm- 
power are sent through aerial or underground ties in the 
wires; pipes beneath the streets bring us water, ^*^®®*^ 
gas, and steam; still other conduits remove liquid wastes from 
our dwellings and surface and subsoil water from our yards and 
streets." ^ The streets of a city are common property, and all 
that is in them, as described in the foregoing quotation, is for the 
common welfare. Important as all these things are, they should 
not be permitted to interfere with the freest use of the streets 
for their original purpose — the movement of traffic. The 
laying and maintenance of tracks, wires, and pipes often do 
interfere with traffic, and with safety, and even infringe upon 
the property rights of the people in the streets (see Chapter XXI, 
pp. 398). Well-governed cities have adopted measures to prevent 
this. The franchises granted to public service corporations 
(see pp. 397-399) now usually impose obligations upon them to 
safeguard the rights of the people. Elevated structures are kept 
off the main streets. Surface Hues are permitted only in streets 
wide enough to accommodate them. Trolley, telephone, tele- 
graph, and light wires are being placed underground instead of 
being permitted to mar the beauty and jeopardize the safety of 

1 M. N. Baker, Municipal Engineering and Sanitation, p. 11, ■ 



268 COMMUNITY CIVICS 

the streets. Excavations made for sewers, water mains, and 
other purposes, must be made in a way to interfere as Httle as 
possible with the use of the street, and the pavements replaced 
in their original condition. Street railway companies are made 
responsible for maintaining the pavement between their tracks. 
We have already noted the relation that the public street bears 
to the community's health (page 171), to the recreation of the 
Responsi- people (page 198), to safety (page 164), and 
biiity of the to the beauty of the community (pages 214- 
citizen ^^^^ ur^^^ ^^^^^^ -^ ^^^ symbol of the free city 

wherein all cooperate to secure opportunity for all." The street 
can perform its varied services to the fullest extent only when 
all who use it cooperate at all times to make it possible. Every 
person who uses the street has a share of responsibility for the 
freedom of traffic movement, and for its safety, its healthfulness, 
its appearance. 

Find out just what wires, pipes, and other "utihties" exist under the 
pavements of your city streets. Try to get sufi&cient information to enable 
you to draw a diagram of one of your streets, showing the placing of these 
utilities. 

To what extent have overhead wires been removed from your streets 
and placed underground? Give all the reasons that occur to you for placing 
wires underground. What reasons are advanced for not removing them? 

What is the experience of your city with regard to the injury of pavements 
by excavations for "pubhc utilities"? 

Discuss the meaning of the statement that "the street is the s)anboI of 
the free city wherein all cooperate to secure opportunity for all." 

In what ways can you cooperate to make this statement true of your city? 

Good country roads are of great importance to the people of 
cities as well as to farmers and rural communities. An excellent 
Value of illustration of the recognition of the conomon inter- 

country roads est of city and country in the public roads, and of 
effective cooperation in improving them, was given 
in Chapter VI, page 70, in the case of Christian County, Ken- 
tucky. The wide use of the automobile has done a great deal to 
awaken the people of cities to their interest in country roads. 



HIGHWAYS AND TRANSPORTATION 269 

The roads of one county may be of the greatest importance 
to other counties in the state; and those of one state of impor- 
tance to other states. The crossties produced from q , , 
the timber of a Virginia county may be wanted for not merely of 
raihoad building in a distant state. The cotton ^°^** co^icem 
from the plantations of Teijnessee or Texas is needed at the 
mills in New England. The wheat of the great farms of the 
northwest suppHes the whole nation. Most of the freight carried 
on the railroads and steamships has at some time and in some 
form been hauled in wagons and trucks over country roads. It 
is clear, then, that the character of the highways in any locality 
is a matter of national, and even of world-wide, interest. 

When our nation was created, the question of highways at 
once became very important. The states needed to be bound 
together, and the public lands settled. The Early national 
Constitution gave Congress the power "to estab- interest in 
lish post ofhces and post roads," and "to regulate ''''^^ building 
commerce . . . among the several states"; but it was not 
clear how far these powers could be exercised for "internal 
improvements." Roads were proposed in great numbers. In 
1806 Congress authorized the building of the Cumberland Road, 
which began at Cumberland, Md., and was finally completed as 
far west as lUinois. Road building was, however, left chiefly to 
the states and to private enterprise. Many "turnpikes" were 
built by private companies, which charged tolls for their use. 

The building of many canals and, later, the coming of rail- 
roads caused interest in public highways to decline, and their 
building was left almost wholly to local initiative, p^^^j. ^^^^^ 
where it remained until very recently. The result in the 
is that the United States has had the poorest roads ^^*^*^ ^***®^ 
in the civilized world. Local communities could oot afford to 
employ expert officials to plan and supervise road construction. 

Under these conditions the road situation became so bad 
that public sentiment was gradually aroused on the subject. 



270 



COMMUNITY CIVICS 



State control was agitated. New Jersey was the first state to 
pass a law placing the highways within the state under state reg- 
State control ulation. Other states followed New Jersey's exam- 
of highways p^g^ ^^^ ^y 1914 forty- two states had state high- 
way departments. These differ greatly from one another in 
organization, powers, and efficiency. 




Transportation by Wagon and Motor Truck 



In a number of states, state highways have been built, paid for 
and managed by the state. California has two trunk lines run- 
R nt roe- ^^^S ^he entire length of the state, with branch 
ress under lines connecting them with the county seats. To 
state control j^^^^j.y j^ j^j^^ Massachusetts had completed 

more than 1,000 miles of state highways. New York has an 
extensive system, and Maryland is another example. But the 
plan most commonly in use is state aid and supervision in the 



HIGHWAYS AND TRANSPORTATION 27 1 

construction of roads by counties. This was the New Jersey 
plan. By it, plans for road improvement with state aid in any 
county must be approved by the state highway department, and 
construction is supervised by state engineers. The cost is 
divided between the state and the local community. 

In New Jersey the property owners along the highway, who of course 
are most directly benefited, were to pay one tenth of the cost, the state 
one third, and the county the remainder. In Wisconsin, the board of 
county commissioners in each county is required to plan a "county system" 
of highways to be a part of the state system. The cost of each county system 
is divided equally among township, county, and state. The work is directed 
by a county highway commissioner, but in accordance with plans and speci- 
fications of the state highway commission. In Ohio a system of "inter- 
county highways" is being built, connecting all the county seats of the 
state. Counties, towns, and property owners along the highway must 
provide an amount equal to that provided by the state, and the work is 
under the direction of the state highway department. 

In Virginia the cost of highway construction is divided equally between 
state and local community; but the counties often accept from the state the 
labor of prison convicts instead of money. Convict labor on the roads is 
quite common in southern states. 

Our roads, even in remote rural districts, are of national 
importance for the reasons stated on page 269. Moreover, 
they are becoming more and more used for the transportation 
of freight and passengers over long distances, for which the 
introduction of the automobile and the motor truck is respon- 
sible. Therefore, national cooperation is necessary for adequate 
road improvement. 

The work of the national government in behalf of good 
roads has heretofore been largely educational and advisory. 
In 1893 the Office of Road Inquiry (now the Ofi&ce 
of Pubhc Roads) was created in the United States national gov- 
Department of Agriculture to investigate methods emment for 
of road making and management. The results of prov-ement 
its investigations have been published for the 
benefit of the country, advice given when asked for. Here 



272 COMMUNITY CIVICS 

* 

and there model or experimental roads were constructed 
to test new methods or to serve as object lessons to the locaUties 
where they were built. Good road building has been greatly 
stimulated by the extension of the rural free mail dehvery. 
The national government has also given to many states pubUc 
lands within their borders, the proceeds from which were to be 
used for road construction; and a part of the proceeds from the 
sale of timber in the national forests is devoted to road building 
in the locality. 

In 1 91 6, Congress passed the law known as the Federal Aid 
Federal Aid Road Act. This law places the national govern- 
Road Act ment in the same relation to the states, in the 
matter of road building, that the state governments have borne 
to the counties in granting state aid. 

The Federal Aid Road Act appropriated 75 million dollars 
to aid states in improving their "rural post roads," and 10 
million dollars for the construction and maintenance of roads in 
the national forests. The money is given to the states only on 
their request, and on condition that each state shall provide an 
amount equal to that received from the national treasury. 

The administration of the law is in the hands of the Office 
of Pubhc Roads. When a state desires aid from the national 
Responsibility government, its highway department must draw 
of the state ^p pia^g for the improvements proposed and submit 
them to the district engineer, who in turn submits them with 
recommendations to the Secretary of Agriculture, whose approval 
they must have. Having obtained this approval, the work is 
carried on by the state as in the case of other roads entirely under 
state control. 

The immediate effect of the law has been to cause the organ- 
ization of state highway departments in the few states that did 
Results of not already have them, and the reorganization of 
federal aid g^^,]^ departments in the states where they were 
weak; for the Federal Aid Road Act provides that aid may be 



HIGHWAYS AND TRANSPORTATION 273 

given to the states only on condition that they have effective 
highway departments. Every state in the Union now has a 
highway department, and road improvement is going on at a 
rate never before known. 

Has your state a good reputation for its country roads? 
Explain particular ways in which country roads are of importance to your 
city. 

Report on the influence of good roads upon rural prosperity and well- 
being (see Dunn, Community Civics and Rural Life, pp. 248-258, and other 
references at the end of the chapter). 

Do the residents of your city help pay for country road improvement 
in your vicitiity? 

Do bad country roads in your vicinity cost the people of your city any- 
thing? Explain. 

Make a report on any movement for good roads that may exist in your state. 

To what extent is transportation by motor truck being used between your 
city and other cities? Consult your father, or business friends, as to the 
likehhood of such means of transportation being developed. What advan- 
tages and disadvantages does it present? What effect is it Hkely to have 
upon road improvement? 

Report on the organization and work of the state highway commission 
of your state. 

Has your state a system of "state highways"? If so, trace on a map the 
routes of these highways. Report on their history and their value. 

Do you know of any toll roads or toll bridges in your state? If so, where 
are they? Report on their history. 

Report on the history of the Cumberland Road. Show its route on a map. 

What and where is the "Lincoln Highway"? 

Report on the work of the Office of Public Roads in the U.S. Department 
of Agriculture. 

Railroads have been one of the principal factors in the growth 
of cities and in the development of our nation. 
Without them the great territory of the United 
States could hardly have been held together as a single nation. 

Railroads have been developed chiefly by private enterprise. 
They are owned by private corporations which do business 
under charters granted by the government and are regulated by 
law. Control over them has been exercised chiefly by the state 



274 



COMMUNITY CIVICS 



governments, except in matters affecting interstate commerce, 
which falls under the control of Congress. Practically all of 
Government °^^^ States now have railroad commissions, or 
'' public utilities" commissions, which regulate the 
rates that may be charged, and the service that 
must be performed by the railroads in the several states. As 



control of 
railroads 




A Railroad Yard 

Our freight transportation difficulties have been due largely to a lack of 

adequate terminal facilities. 



the parts of our country have become more closely bound 
together and interdependent, largely by the influence of the 
raihoads themselves, an increasingly large part of commerce has 
become "interstate" in character, and railway transportation 
has become more and more a national concern. The result is an 
increasing control by the national government. 

In 1887 Congress created an Interstate Commerce Commis- 
sion with power to inquire into the management of the business 
Interstate of "common carriers," such as railroads, steam- 
commerce g]^jp lines, and express companies. It was later 
given power to fix rates which such carriers could charge. Other 



HIGHWAYS AND TRANSPORTATION 275 

laws were passed, such as the Sherman Act, or ''Anti-Trust 
Law," of 1890, which made unlawful any ''contract, combina- 
tion ... or conspiracy in restraint of trade," which checked 
abuses that characterized railroad management at that time. 
(See Chapter XIX.) 

As we have seen in our study of street traffic (page 261), trans- 
portation costs enter very largely into the prices of commodities 
and the cost of living. It is necessary for govern- Transporta- 
ment to see that transportation companies do not thTcolroT"^ 
for their own profit impose unjust rates. On the living 
other hand, state and national commissions are not permitted 
to impose rates so low as to be unfair to the transportation 
companies. To do so has been held by the courts to be in viola- 
tion of the constitutional provision that no one shall be deprived 
' of property without due process of law. (See Constitution, 
Amendment V.) The determination of just transportation rates 
is a very difficult and delicate task. 

The cost and comfort of living depend also upon the service 
rendered by transportation companies, as well as upon their 
rates. It frequently happens that there is a scarcity Transportation 

of food products, or of coal, in one locality while an f^^^^^^^^^nd 
^ . -^ tne public 

abundance exists at the sources of production or at welfare 
the market centers. This means high prices and discomfort in 
the regions of scarcity, while producers in other sections can 
hardly sell their products at any price. Both producers and con- 
sumers thus suffer hardship. It may be the fault of transporta- 
tion companies, when they think more of their own profit than 
of community service. It may be the fault of unwise laws or of 
rates so low as to prevent the transportation companies from 
keeping up their equipment and service. Or it may be due to 
other more remote causes, such as a more rapid growth of popu- 
lation than the transportation companies can keep up with. In 
any case, we can see the very great difficulty, as well as the 
importance, of wise control by government, and of intelli- 



276 COMMUNITY CIVICS 

gent understanding by the people of their transportation 
problems. 

When the United States entered the recent war, the need for 
effective transportation service led the government to take 
Government unusual Steps to secure it. The President issued a 
administra- proclamation by which, in the exercise of his war 
tioninwar powers, he "took possession and assumed control 
of each and every system of transportation in the United States 
and the appurtenances thereof." This meant assuming control 
over 397,000 miles of railways owned by 2,905 corporations and 
employing more than 1,700,000 persons. The management of 
this great transportation system was intrusted to a Railroad 
Administration with a Director General of Railroads at its head. 
The ownership of these railroads, however, remained with the 
private companies, which were to receive compensation for the 
use of their property, and were to receive back the railroads after 
the war was over. This return of the railroads to their owners 
has now taken place. 

The whole purpose of the government in its management of 
the railroads was to win the war, the convenience of the public 
Advantages of ^^^^S ^ minor consideration. The people cheer- 
government fully put up with inconveniences of travel and with 
managemen j-g^^-gg ^j^g^^ ^j^gy ]^^^ j^q^ experienced while the roads 

were under private management. On the other hand, there were 
certain decided advantages in the management of all railroads 
as one great system. It meant the consolidation of competing 
lines that the law itself prevented the railway companies from 
effecting, it meant shortening routes in many cases, the use of 
common freight terminals by different lines, the increase of 
track facilities and storage areas at seaport terminals, the selling 
of passenger tickets good over any one of several roads runniAg 
between two points. 

There are those who believe that the railroads should be 
managed, or even owned, by the government in time of peace 



HIGHWAYS AND TRANSPORTATION 



277 



as well as during war. There are others who believe as strongly 
in private ownership and direction. Many of the latter believe, 
however, that a more perfect control should be exercised over 
the privately owned roads by the government under laws that 
protect the interests of the public and that at the same time 




Brown Brothers 



The Dock 



permit, or even require, greater cooperation among the roads 
than has heretofore existed. Since the war, bills have been 
introduced in Congress looking to these ends. 

In early days rivers were used for transportation to a large 
extent, and canals were proposed in great numbers. Some of 
these were built and carried a large amount of Water trans- 
trafiic. The coming of the railroads caused water portatioh 
transportation to decline, to the nation's great loss. The war 
stimulated the use of our waterways to a considerable extent, 



278 



COMMUNITY CIVICS 



and any scheme for transportation control in the future should 
provide for their fullest development as a means of marketing 
the products of our farms, forests, mines, and factories. 




Modern Methods of Handling a Ship's Cargo 
"We discovered methods of shipbuilding, and of loading and unloading ships when 
they are built, that will probably enable us to maintain permanently a merchant 
marine." 

There was also a time, in the early part of our history, when 
our seaports swarmed with American ships that sailed every 
Effect of war sea. Our shipping afterward declined because other 
nations built and manned ships more cheaply than 
we could do. We allowed these other nations to 
carry our commerce. We deplored the fact that our merchant 
marine had disappeared, and discussed ways and means to 
restore it. But all to no purpose, until the great war came; then 
we had to have ships. Congress created the United States Ship- 
ping Board and its Emergency Fleet Corporation. As a result, 



upon our 
merchant 
marine 



HIGHWAYS AND TRANSPORTATION 279 

and within a year's time, the United States took rank as the 
leading shipbuilding nation in the world. It had more shipyards, 
more ship ways, more ship workers, more ships under construc- 
tion, and was building more ships every month during the war 
than any other country. ^ Under the stress of necessity methods 
of shipbuilding and operation were developed that ought to 
make it possible for the United States to compete successfully 
in the future with other nations, even though our workmen 
and sailors are paid more than those of other nations. By our 
merchant marine the American farmer and the American 
business man are brought into touch with the remotest parts 
of the earth. 

As a result of the war our government came into possession of 
a great fleet of merchant ships. Since the war, however, it has 
been seeking to sell these ships as rapidly as possible to private 
corporations. This is in harmony with the traditional policy of 
our government to leave business enterprise as largely as possible 
to private initiative. It will be interesting to watch the news- 
papers and magazines to see what measures our government 
may take to maintain permanently our merchant fleet. 

How have railroads benefited your city? 

What railway systems enter your city? What are the most important 
cities with which each of these systems brings your city "in touch"? What 
special interdependence can you show between any of these cities and your 
city? (Obtain railroad maps from the offices of the roads.) 

What parts of the United States would perhaps have been most likely 
to have maintained an independent existence if railroads had not been 
introduced? 

Look up the story of the first steam railway in the United States. Also 
the story of the building of the first transcontinental railway. 

What control does your state government exercise over the railroads 
within your state borders? How is this control exercised? 

Report on the work of the United States Interstate Commerce Com- 
mission. 

What are the principal arguments for and against government ownership 
of railroads? 

1 "Shipping Facts," issued by the U.S. Shipping Board, September, 1918. 



28o COMMUNITY CIVICS 

What reasons exist for the public ownership of highways that do not 
apply to public ownership of railroads? 

What control over railroads does our national government exercise to-day 
that it did not exercise before the World War? 

Who are some of the men who have been most influential in the develop- 
ment of railroads in the United States? 

What are some of the more important canals in use in the United States 
to-day? Why do these canals retain their importance in spite of the develop- 
ment of railroads? 

What is the importance of the Panama Canal to the United States? To 
the world at large? 

What are some of the other great canals that are of world-wide impor- 
tance? 

What kinds of commodities are transported by water more economically 
than by rail? Why is this so? What are the principal commodities trans- 
ported in ships on the Great Lakes? 

Why is it desirable that the United States should have its own merchant 
marine rather than depend upon the ships of other nations to transport 
our commerce? 

What are the duties of the United States Shipping Board at the present 
time? 

Watch for items in the newspapers and articles in the magazines relating 
to our merchant marine. Report to the class the substance of what you read. 



READINGS 

Reports of your city government relative to streets. 

Beard, Charles A., American City Government, chap, ix, "The Streets of the City." 

Wilcox, Delos F., The American City (Macmillan), chap, ii, "The Street." 

The American City (magazine). Every issue has valuable material relating to 
streets, roads, pavements, public utilities, etc. 

Dunn, Arthur W., Community Civics and Rural Life, pp. 248-257, for discussion of 
country roads. 

County reports relating to road construction and improvement. 

Reports of State Highway Commission. 

State management of public roads, Year Book, U.S. Department of Agriculture, 
1914, pp. 211-226. 

Publications of Office of Public Roads, U.S. Department of Agriculture. Write 
also to Superintendent of Documents, Government Printing Oflfice, Washington, 
for price list of documents relating to the subject of roads. 

Farmers' Bulletins relating to marketing and transportation facilities, U.S. Depart- 
ment of Agriculture. 



fflGHWAYS AND TRANSPORTATION 28 1 

In Lessons in Community and National Life: ' 

Series A: Lesson 26, Concentration of control in the railroad industry. 
Series B: Lesson 27, Good roads. 

Series C: Lesson 25, A seaport as a center of concentration of population and 
wealth. 
Lesson 27, Early transportation in the Far West. 
Lesson 28, The first railway across the continent. 
Consult public library for magazine literature on the subject of roads, railroads, 
river transportation, etc. For example, in the Review of Reviews, February, 
1918, there are the following articles: 
" Uncle Sam Takes the Railroads." 
"The World's Greatest Port" (New York). 
"New York Canals a Transportation Resource." 
" River Navigation — a War Measure." 
Hart, A. B., Actual Government, chap, xxvii. (Longmans, Green & Co.) 



CHAPTER XVI 

EARNING A LIVING 

" There is a sentimentality which would make it appear that in 
some millenial day man will not work. If some such calamity 
ever blights us, then man will fail and fall back. God is wise. 
His first and His greatest gift to man was the obligation cast upon 
him to labor. The march of civilization is the epic of man as a 
workingman and that is the reason why labor must be held high 
always.'" — Franklin K. Lane. 

The most conspicuous activities that we see going on in the 
community are usually those that have to do with earning a 
T • • t living or the production of wealth.^ Indeed, some 

earning, the people become so absorbed in the business of earn- 
en in view -^^ ^ living that they seem to be living to earn 
rather than earning to live. It does not do to forget that not 
earning, but living, is the real end in view. Unless we know how 
to use what we earn to provide properly for all of our normal 
wants, the effort we spend in earning is very largely wasted. 

Nevertheless, before we can enjoy a living it has to be earned, 
by ourselves or by some one else ; and the activities by which it 
is earned occupy so important a place in our lives, are so closely 
dependent upon the community, have so much to do with our 
citizenship, and receive so much attention from government 

1 The activities by which we earn a Hving are also the activities by which wealth 
is produced. It is important to xinderstand that when we speak of "wealth" 
we do not necessarily mean great wealth. A boy who has a fifty-cent knife, or a girl 
who has a twenty-five-cent purse, has wealth as truly as the man who owns a well- 
stocked farm. The difference is merely in kind and amount. Food, clothing, houses, 
books, tools, are all forms of wealth. Any material thing, for which we are willing 
, to work and make sacrifices because it satisfies our wants, is wealth. Earning a liv- 
ing is merely earning or producing wealth to satisfy our wants and those of others. 

282 



EARNING A LIVING 283 

that we must give them some consideration in this chapter and 
several chapters following. 

While young people are spending most of their time at school 
or at play, their fathers and other grown people are usually 
chiefly occupied in the business of making a living j^^ 
or "earning money." ^ Children are, as a rule^ of vocational 
wholly dependent upon their parents for their ^^® 
living. But during their period of dependence they are gaining 
skill and experience, in school and otherwise, that will later 
enable them to earn their own living and that of other people 
who may, in turn, become dependent upon them. 

As adult life approaches, there comes an increasing desire 
for independence of others, to have possessions, own property, 
or accumulate wealth. Our vocations, or occupations, by which 
we earn a livelihood, come to occupy a prominent place in our 
thought, and to a large extent control our activity. Doubtless 
most of those who read this chapter have begun to think more 
or less seriously about what they are going to do for a living. 
Some may be already doing so, in part, or helping to earn that 
of their families; but most boys and girls have more or less 

1 Gold and silver and paper and wood are forms of wealth. Out of wood we 
make a yardstick or a peck measure with which to measure quantities of cloth or 
grain. In a similar manner, out of gold, silver, paper, and other materials, we make 
money, and for a similar reason, namely, to measure the value of wealth. When we 
speak of a fifty-cent knife and a twenty-five-cent purse, we measure the value of these 
articles. It would take thousands of dollars to measure the value of a large business 
or a handsome home. 

When we say that a boy earns a dollar, or that a man earns $4.00 a day, we 
measure the value of his work or his service. A man may make a direct exchange of 
his services for something he needs to satisfy his wants, as when he works for his 
"board and lodging." But he usually receives all or part of the reward for his serv- 
ices in money, because with the money he can buy clothing and other things which 
his employer cannot give him. Thus money becomes something more than a 
measure of wealth or of services ; it is also a means of exchanging wealth or services. 

These are the two uses of money. Money has value only because of what it 
represents in wealth, and wealth is useful because it enables us. to satisfy wants. 
These things are mentioned because it is quite important that we should never 
forget that "money" and "wealth" are worth working for only because of the 
"living," or life, that they help us to attain. 



284 



COMMUNITY CIVICS 



regularly ''earned money," even if they have not- considered 
it necessary for their living. An inquiry in a large, first-year 
high school class disclosed the fact that the girls of the class, 
quite as much as the boys, were thinking of their choice of 
vocation. More avenues are open to girls to-day than formerly 
by which to earn their living outside of the family; but even 




Helping to Earn the Family Living 



the management of a home is a business as truly as the manage- 
ment of a factory or an office, and is an exceedingly important 
factor in the earning of the family living (see pages 108-113). 

What part, if any, do you have in helping to earn the family living? 

What have you done during the past year to earn money (a) out of school 
hours on school days, (b) on Saturdays, (c) in vacation time ? Tabulate the 
results for the entire class. 

What vocation would you like to follow for life? Why? 

If you have not decided upon some one vocation, name several that seem 
attractive to you. Why are they attractive? 

What do you know about the opportunities and the qualifications neces- 
sary for success in the vocations you have named? How may you proceed 
to find out more about them? 

What vocations offer especial opportunities for girls and women to-day? 



EARNING A LIVING 285 

How do these opportunities compare with those when your mothers were 
girls ? 

Make a list of the occupations of the fathers (or other members of the 
famiHes) of the members of your class. 

Make a list of as many occupations in your community as you can think of. 

Our dependence upon others for a living by no means ends 
with childhood. There is no such thing as an entirely "self- 
made man," by which is meant a man who has been Dependence 
successful entirely by his own efforts. It is true ^^ *h® pioneer 
that the primitive hunter and the pioneer farmer were inde- 
pendent of others to an unusual extent (see page 14). But their 
living was a meager one, and they could not accumulate much 
wealth. The very land that a pioneer occupies, even though it 
is extensive and fertile, has httle value as long as it is remote 
from centers of population. 

Even if a pioneer laid claim to a large tract of land, he could 
produce Httle wealth from it in crops if he could get no help to 
cultivate it, or if he had no improved machinery (made by 
others) ; and whatever he produced, he and his family could 
eat but little of the product. He could feed some to his few 
animals, and he would save some for seed ; but anything that 
he raised above what he could actually use would have no value 
unless he could get it to other people who wanted it. If he 
could not sell what he produced, neither could he buy what 
others produced. 

Under present-day conditions, a farmer who raises wheat 
probably uses none of it himself. He sells his entire crop for 
the use of others, while to supply himself and his Dependence 
family with bread he goes to the store and buys of the modern 
flour that may have been milled in Minnesota from *^"^®' 
wheat raised by other farmers, perhaps in North Dakota or 
South Dakota. In exchange for his wheat he also gets clothing 
manufactured in New York or New England from cotton raised 
in Georgia or Texas, or from wool grown in Montana. He buys 



286 



COMMUNITY CIVICS 



a wagon made in Indiana from lumber cut in the South and 
iron mined in Michigan and smelted in Ohio. Thus he earns 
his living by producing food for other people, while the things 
he uses in living are the product of labor expended by other 
people in the effort to earn their living. We noticed in Chapter 
II how many people and occupations were concerned in produc- 
ing a pair of shoes (page 20). 




Picking Cotton to Clothe the World 



While a worker may be interested primarily in providing 
for his own wants and those of his family, he can do this only 
Earning by ^^Y producing something or performing service for 
service others ; and while each worker may .be most con- 

cerned about what he receives for his work, the community 
is most concerned about what he produces. Earning a living 
has two sides to it : rendering service to others and being paid 
for the service rendered. It is as if the community entered 
into a sort of agreement with the worker to the effect that it 
will provide him with a living in return for definite service to 



EARNING A LIVING 



287 



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2. The Cement Age 




Courtesy American Magazine of Art 

3. Builders 

Some Forms of Service 
Mural decorations in High School, Grand Rapids, Mich. 



the community or for the product of his labor. What we call 
"business" is selling a service. It may be personal service, such 
as teaching, or prescribing medicine, or nursing, or giving legal 
advice, or cutting hair, or driving a team, or running an auto- 
mobile. Or it may be purchasing, storing, retailing, and deliver- 



288 COMMUNITY CIVICS 

ing things which have been produced perhaps many hundreds 
or thousands of miles away. Or it may be raising foodstuffs on 
the farm, or mining fuels and metals from the earth, or cutting 
timber from the forest. Or it may be manufacturing — buying 
materials and converting them into products serviceable to 
others. Whatever it is, every man's business is also the com- 
munity's business, and the community has a right to expect 
industry and honest, efficient work from every worker. 

Discuss the occupations named in answer to the two questions on page 
285, from the point of view of their service to the community. 

To what extent is your father's business or occupation dependent upon 
the business or occupation of the fathers of other members of the class? 

Show how your father's business is also the community's business. 

What is the price of land in your neighborhood ? Consult your father 
or friends in regard to the increase or decrease in price in recent years and 
the reasons for it. 

There are exceptional cases where people receive a living with- 
out earning it. One class of such people is represented by 
Livinff thieves, gamblers, swindlers, and persons engaged 

without in occupations that are positively harmful to the 

earning community. Such people may be very skillful 

and they may work hard enough, but they take what others 
have earned without producing anything of value to the com- 
munity. 

Then there are those who are incapable of productive work 
because of physical defects, or through the feebleness of old 
age. It is the duty of every citizen to provide, as far as possible, 
during his productive years, for the ''rainy day" of misfortune 
or advancing age. For those who cannot do so, the commun- 
ity must provide. 

Very young children are users of wealth produced by others. 
It is expected, however, that children will in later years make 
return to the community for what they have received during 
their period of dependence. 



EARNING A LIVING 289 

Some people inherit wealth, or otherwise come into posses- 
sion of it without effort on their part. The wealth so received, 
however, has been earned by some one, or has come inherited 
from the community in some way. If the person wealth 
who so receives it uses it in a way that is highly useful to the 
community, he may in a sense earn it even after he receives it ; 
but if he uses it solely for his own enjoyment, without effort to 
make it highly useful to the community, he does not in any 
sense earn it, and places himself in the class of those who are 
wholly dependent upon the community. 

On the other hand, there are people who do not get for their 
work a living that fairly compensates them for the service they 
render by it to the community. If our com- ^^^^j 
munity life were perfectly adjusted in all its parts ; compensation 
if all the people clearly recognized their common °^ service 
interests and their interdependence; if they had the spirit of 
cooperation and were wise enough to devise smoothly working 
machinery of cooperation ; — then the returns that a worker 
received for his work would be closely proportionate to the serv- 
ice rendered by his work. That is, he would get what he earned, 
so far as wages or profits were concerned. But this is one of 
the particulars in which our community life is still imperfect. 
Where so many different kinds of workers are engaged in pro- 
ducing shoes, for example, it is extremely difficult to determine 
how much each should be paid for his share of the work. What 
wages should be given to the different classes of workers who 
care for the cattle, make the leather, manufacture the machines 
with which the shoes are made, operate the machines, mine the 
coal and iron for the production of the machines, and so on? 
What profits shall be allowed to the men who raise the cattle, 
to the merchants who sell the shoes and the machines, and to 
the transportation companies that carry them from the fac- 
tories to the dealers? What interest shall be received by the 
men who furnish the capital necessary to run the factories and 



290 COMMUNITY CIVICS 

the farms? These questions relating to the distribution of 
wealth that men produce have proved very difficult to answer 
satisfactorily. 

A very useful and interesting, but rather diflScult, science has grown up 
to explain the production, distribution, and use of wealth. It is called the 
science of economics. Of all the divisions of this science, that relating to 
the distribution of wealth is the most perplexing. It is the inequalities in the 
distribution of wealth, the sense of injustice produced by these inequalities, 
and sometimes a failure to understand what a fair distribution is, that have 
caused most of the labor disputes referred to in Chapter XVIII (pages 

327, 337)- 

Have you ever heard any one say, "The world owes me a living"? Is 

this a true statement? If so, in what sense do you think it is true? 

Which do you think is the truer statement : "I have a right to a living," 
or "I have a right to earn a living"? Discuss the difference. 

A thief has been known to say, "I was brought into the world without my 
own consent; therefore the world owes me a living, and I owe the world 
nothing." Is this good argument? Did the people upon whom he de- 
pends for a living have any more to say about their being brought into the 
world than he had? 

What things are you using to-day that were not provided for you by 
others? 

If a stranger should come to your community to-day to live, what are 
some of the things that he would find already provided by the community 
for his use in making a living? 

Name five important inventions and state what they have done for 
you. 

Would you say that the world owes Thomas A. Edison and Luther Bur- 
bank a living? Why? 

How are you indebted for your living to the pioneers who settled your 
state? to Robert Fulton? to the men who built the first transcontinental 
railroad? 

Can you think of some way in which your family is indebted for its living 
to the British nation? to France? to ancient Greece? to the Phcenicians? 
to the people of Brazil? 

Which is the greater, the debt of your family to the world or the debt 
of the world to your family? 

What is a "parasite"? Could this term be appropriately applied to any 
of the people referred to in the last few paragraphs of the text above? 



EARNING A LIVING 291 

Eachx citizen has a right to feel that the government is in- 
terested in his individual prosperity and happiness ; and it is, 
for unhappy and discontented citizens are seldom ^^ 
good citizens. But the government represents interested in 
the community as a whole, and has the interest of p^o^^*^*^^^ 
the community as a whole in its keeping rather than the in- 
terest of particular individuals. Its interest is primarily in 
what each citizen produces, for it is upon this that the strength 
of the nation depends. Tijg 

A few days after war was declared against Ger- " national 
many, the President made an appeal to his fellow army " of 
countrymen, in which he said : producers 

"It is evident to every thinking man that our industries on the farms, in 
the shipyards, in the mines, in the factories, must be made more prolific 
and more efficient than ever and that they must be more economically 
managed and better adapted to the particular requirements of our task than 
they have been; and what I want to say is that the men and women who 
devote their thought and their energy to these things will be serving the 
country and conducting the fight for peace and freedom just as truly and 
just as effectively as the men on the battlefield or in the trenches. The 
industrial forces of the country, men and women alike, will be a great 
national, a great international Service Army, — a notable and honored host 
engaged in the service of the nation and the world. . . . Thousands, nay, 
hundreds of thousands, of men otherwise liable to military service will of 
right and necessity be excused from that service and assigned to the funda- 
mental, sustaining work of the fields and factories and mines, and they will 
be as much part of the great patriotic forces of the nation as the men under 
fire." 

The nation needs the productive work of each citizen in time 
of peace as truly as in time of war, although when it is not 
fighting for its very life it is more tolerant of those who do not 
contribute efficiently by their work to the common good. It 
carries them along somehow. But such members of the com- 
munity are a burden and a source of weakness at all times. 
Therefore, for example, there are in most of our communities laws 
against vagrancy; that is, against willful and habitual idlers 



292 COMMUNITY CIVICS 

"without visible means of support," such as beggars and 
tramps. 

There are times when many men are "out of work." In 
times of business depression the number may become very 
Problem of S^^^^f whUe in prosperous times the number 
the unem- dwindles ; but always there are some. It is often 
^ °^® through no fault of their own ; it is another result 

of the imperfect adjustment of our community life. It often 
happens that while large numbers of men are unable to find work 
in industrial centers, the farmers may be suffering for want of 
help. This may be merely because there is no way by which 
to let workmen know where they are needed, or of distributing 
them to meet the need. Or, many of the unemployed may be 
unskilled, while the demand is for skilled workmen; or they 
may be skilled in one line, while the demand is in another line. 
Whatever the causes, the "problem of the unemployed" is one 
of the most serious that the community has to deal with. 

Who have been some of the buUders of your own community by reason 
of their business life? Explain. 

So far as you have observed, what boys have been most successful after 
leaving school — those who make it a practice to do all they can for their 
employers, or those who have tried to do the least possible? 

Is it true in your community that the most useful citizens are those who care 
more about the excellence of their work than about what they receive for it? 

Are there many vagrants in your community? Are there laws against 
vagrancy? If so, what are they? 

" Are there many men out of work in your city at the present time? If so, 
are they chiefly skilled or unskilled workmen? What is the difference be- 
tween a skilled and an unskilled workman? 

Is it ever difficult to get farm labor in your locality? If so, how do the 
farmers explain it? What effect does it have on your city? 

Consult your father as to the reasons for unemployment in your city. 
Compare his explanation with that of fathers of other pupils, and make list 
of reasons given. 

It is of the greatest importance both to the individual and to 
the community that every citizen (i) should be continuously 



EARNING A LIVING 



293 



employed in a useful occupation, (2) should be free and able 
to choose the occupation for which he is best fitted, and in 
which he will be happiest, and (3) should be thoroughly efi&cient 
in his work, whatever it is. 




The Problem of the Unemployed 
A striker and his family 

(i) The community has a right to expect every citizen to be 

industrious and productive, for only in this way can he be 

self-sustaining and at the same time contribute his 

1 11 1 • r 1 • -r^ 1 The right of 

share to the well-being of the community. Doubt- the com- 

less all who read this chapter are desirous of doing munity to 

r 1 1 * 1 ... . industry 

useful work. At the same time, it is easy for any 

of us to fall into the habit of thinking more about what we 

can get than about what we can give. There are people who 

habitually seek to do as little as possible for what they can get, 

or to get all they can for the least possible service. This ap- 



294 COMMUNITY CIVICS 

plies not only to idlers who live entirely off the community 
without any service on their part, but also to those who have 
employment, but who seek to evade, by ''time-serving" and 
otherwise "slacking," the full responsibility of service. We 
sometimes hear complaint in regard to public officials who draw 
good salaries without rendering adequate or honest public 
service in return, and to such we frequently apply the term of 
^^ grafter y But the principle is exactly the same when any 
person who has undertaken to do a piece of work fritters away 
his time or "loafs on the job." 

After all, the chief return that we get for our work is not the 
wages or the profits, important as they are to us, but the satis- 
Satisf action faction of doing something that is worth while. 
in service jf xh.\?> pleasure is absent from the work we do, no 

amount of money returns can compensate us for it. 

(2) The value of our work to the community and the pleasure 
that we derive from it both depend to a large extent upon our 
J . fitness for it. It is important to choose our work 

of a right carefully. There are four important considera- 

^ °^^^ tions in choosing a vocation : (a) its usefulness to 

the community, {h) one's own fitness for it, (c) one's happiness 
in it, and {d) whether it offers an adequate living to one's self 
and dependents. The last of these is, of course, a most impor- 
tant consideration. What a person receives for his work ought 
to be determined by the first two considerations, i.e. the use- 
fulness of the work to the community and one's fitness for it. 
We have seen that this is not always true. In such cases it 
often becomes necessary to make a further choice — a choice 
between working primarily for one's own profit and working 
primarily for the satisfaction that comes from important service 
well rendered. It is not always easy to make this choice ; but 
there are many people who have sacrificed large incomes for 
the sake of doing work that the community needs and for which 
they consider themselves well fitted. 



EARNING A LIVING 295 

Many people seem to have little choice in the matter of voca- 
tion. The farmer's boy has to work on the farm whether he 
wants to or not ; and many a man is a farmer ^ choice of 
apparently for no other reason than that he was vocation is 
raised on the farm and has seen no opportunity to do 
anything else. Other people seem to be forced into other occu- 
pations by circumstances or drift into them by chance. But 
even in these cases there is something of a choice. The farmer's 
boy '^ chooses" to remain on the farm rather than to take the 
chances involved in running away, or because he would rather 
be at home than in ^ strange city. The discontented farmer 
might have chosen to be a lawyer if he had been willing to make 
enough sacrifices to get ready for it ; and even now he "chooses " 
to remain on the farm in spite of his dislike for it because to do 
otherwise would mean sacrifice of some kind or other that he is 
unwilling to make. ;i 

The pleasure and effectiveness of any work, however, are 
increased if its importance to the community or to the world 
is clearly understood; for all productive work is 
important. There is no more terrible work than of bur work 
that of the soldier in the trenches. No man would to the 
voluntarily choose it for his own pleasure. But 
millions of men have gone into it joyfully because of the results 
to be attained for their country and the world. Other millions 
of men and women, and even children, on the farms, in the mines, 
in the shops, and in the homes, worked and sacrificed during 
the war with Germany as they had never worked and sacrificed 
before, produced results such as had never been produced before, 
and doubtless experienced a satisfaction in their toil that they 
never experienced before, because each one saw more definitely 
than 'before the relation of his work to the great national and 
world purpose. An understanding of the meaning of our work in 
its relation to community welfare goes a long way toward " trans- 
muting days of dreary work into happier lives" (see page 9). 



296 



COMMUNITY CIVICS 







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EARNING A LIVING 297 

The opportunity to choose one's calling, to decide what 
service one will fit himself for, the right of " self-determination" 
with regard to what one's work shall be — this is ^^ , 
what *' freedom" means. This is why men are equality,' 
happier when they are free. The "equality" and *^<^ Justice 
"justice" that all men want mean equality of opportunity to 
choose that which they like to do, and an equal chance to make a 
living, or to obtain compensation for their labor or enterprise. 
It is for these things more than for anything else that people 
have left old-world conditions and come to America. The 
ability to make a living under conditions of freedom and justice 
depends in part upon the common wants of the community, 
and upon the willingness of members of the community to pay 
for the satisfaction of their wants enough to enable those who 
perform service for them also to satisfy theirs. But it also 
depends upon the ability of the individual to make a choice, 
and upon his willingness to spend years in preparation, if need 
be, to enable him to offer a service of the kind he likes to render 
and for which others are glad to pay well. 

We are living in a day of specialists. The very nature of our 
interdependent life makes it necessary for each worker to do 
one thing and to do it exceedingly well. More- a day of 
over, since the worker must be a specialist, requiring speciaUsts 
long, special training, it is more difficult than it used to be for 
him to change from one occupation to another after he has once 
started. Each person, therefore, owes it both to himself and 
to the community to choose his vocation carefully, so far as he 
has opportunity to make a choice. The schools are more and 
more making it their business to give boys and girls the knowl- 
edge and the experience that will enable them to choose wisely 
their mode of earning a living. 

(3) Whether a citizen follows a vocation of his own voluntary 
choice, or one into which he has fallen by chance or by force of 
circumstances, he is under obligation to the community as 



298 COMMUNITY CIVICS 

well as to himself to do his work well. In these days of special- 
ization this inevitably means preparation, training. If the com- 
The necessity munity expects the citizen to perform efficient 
for training service, it must afford him a fair opportunity 
for preparation. 

As in the choice of a vocation, so in preparation for it the 
individual has his share of responsibility. It is always a tempta- 
jj . _ tion for young people to get out into the active work 
trance upon of the world at the earliest possible moment. The 
vocationa 1 e ^^^jj-g ^^ ^^ independent, to earn one's own living, 
to ''make money," is strong. It leads many boys and girls to 
leave school even before they have finished their elementary 
education. In the great majority of cases this results in serious 
economic loss both to the boy or girl and to the community. 
The charts on page 296 furnish evidence of this. 

We call it patriotism when a man gives all that he has, even 
his life if necessary, for the good of his country, without stopping 
Patriotism in to consider whether or not he will receive an equal 
vocational life benefit in return. There is no higher type of 
patriotism than that which prompts a citizen to perform his 
best service for the community in his daily calling, not for what 
he can get for it, but for what he can give. This patriotism is 
shared by the young citizen who is willing to defer an apparent 
immediate gain to himself in order to prepare himself thoroughly 
for more effective service later. 

If your father had his life to live over again, would he choose the same 
vocation that he is now following? Consult him as to his reasons. 

Take the list of occupations represented by the parents of the members of 
your class, or a list of occupations represented by the residents of your 
block, and study them with respect to the amount of preparation or training 
needed for each. 

Make a study of the extent to which specialization is necessary in the 
industries of your town. 

Does your school offer any vocational training or vocational guidance? 

Is there a tendency in your school for boys and girls to quit before com- 



EARNING A LIVING 299 

pleting the course? At what grades do pupils begin to drop out in con- 
siderable numbers? Why do they le^ve? What sort of work do they do 
when they leave school? 

At what age does the law in your state permit boys and girls to go to 
work? Show how this restriction of freedom now increases freedom later 
on (see page 297). 

"Education tends to make people free." Discuss this proposition in 
the light of what is said on page 297. Does a high school graduate enjoy a 
greater degree of freedom than a person who never went to high school? 

Discuss the meaning of "freedom," "equality," "justice," as explained 
on page 297. 

Discuss the proposition that "the chief return we get for our work is the 
satisfaction of doing something worth while." 

What does the "right of self-determination" mean in its application (a) 
to an mdividual, (&) to a nation? 

' READINGS 

In Lessons in Community and National Life: 

Series A: Lesson 3, The cooperation of specialists in modern society. 

Lesson 5, The human resources of a community. 

Lesson 7, Organization. 

Lesson 8, The rise of machine industry. 

Lesson 9, Social control. 

Lesson 10, Indirect costs. 

Lesson 11, Education as encouraged by industry. 

Lesson 23, The services of money. 

Lesson 28, The worker in our society. 
Series B : Lesson 8, Finding a job. 

Lesson 11, The work of women. 

Lesson 28, Women in industry. 
Series C : Lesson 9, Inventions. 

Lesson 11, The effects of machinery on rural life. 

Lesson 21, Before coins were made. 

Lesson 22, The minting of coins. 

Lesson 23, Paper money. 

Lesson 24, Money in the community and the home. 

Lesson 29, Child labor. 
Vocational Guidance in Secondary Education. Bulletin, 1918, No. 19, U.S. 

Bureau of Education. 
Business Education in Secondary Education. Bulletin, 1919, No. 55, U.S. 

Bureau of Education. 
Work of School Children in Out-of-school Hours. Bulletin, 191 7, No. 20, U.S- 
Bureau of Education, 



300 COMMUNITY CIVICS 

In Long's American Patriotic Prose: 

Frank A. Vanderlip, "Service Leads to Success," pp. 347-348. 

Charles M. Schwab, "Opportunity is Plentiful in America," pp. 348-350. 
Tufts, The Real Business of Living, chaps, viii-x ; xv-xxviii. 
The following books relating to vocational life are helpful: 

Gowin and Wheatley, Occupations (Ginn & Co.). 

Giles, Vocational Civics (Macmillan). 

Gulick, The Efficient Life (Doubleday, Page & Co.). 

Reid and others. Careers for the Coming Men (Saalfield Pub. Co., Akron, Ohio). 

Harden, Choosing a Career (Bobbs-Merrill, Indianapolis). 

Harden, Talks with Great Workers (Thos. Y. Crowell). 

Bok, Success-ward (Doubleday, Page & Co.). 

Williams, How It Is Made, How It Is Done, How It Works (Thos. Nelson & Sons). 

Fowler, Starting in Life (Little, Brown & Co.). 

Parsons, Choosing a Vocation (Houghton HiflBin & Co.). 

Carnegie, The Empire of Business (Doubleday, Page & Co.). 



CHAPTER XVII 

THRIFT 

" Thrift is good management of the business of living." 

This definition is taken from ''Ten Lessons in Thrift," 
issued by the Treasury Department of the United States 
Government (February, 19 19). The United National 
States government sent out these lessons be- importance 
cause ''America to-day stands in the position in 
which all her economic problems must be solved through 
thrift. . . , Unless our people gain a deep, sincere apprecia- 
tion of the absolute necessity for thrift, we cannot hope 
to hold the proud position we occupy as the flag bearer of 
nations. . . ." ^ 

The great war taught us some* lessons about the importance 
of thrift to the nation. The enormous expenses of the war 
were paid and the armies and the civilian popula- Lessons of 
tions of the countries at war were fed very largely *^® ^^^ 
by the combined small savings of our people. Nearly 20 million 
people contributed to the fourth liberty loan, by which almost 
seven billion dollars were raised, an average of about $350 for 
each contributor. Almost every one bought war savings 
stamps, by which about a bilhon dollars were raised in 1918. 
Practically all this money came from savings. Enormous sums 
were also given to the Red Cross and other causes. To do this 
people saved and sacrificed "until it hurt." The provisioning 
of our armies and of the needy peoples of Europe was made 

1 S. W. Strauss, President American Society for Thrift, in "The Patriotism of 
War Savings" (National Education Association pamphlet, Thrift, 1918), 

301 



302 



COMMUNITY CIVICS 



possible by the saving, in American homes, of slices of bread, 
of teaspoonfuls of sugar, of small portions of meat and fats. 

Thrift, however, is not merely a war necessity. ''The time 
when thrift shall not be needed — needed as vitally as food 
Thrift as itself — will never come. . . . Through thrift 

patriotism alone can the rebuilding come — the rebuilding of 
America — the rebuilding of the world. . . . Thrift is patriot- 
ism because it is the elimination of every element that tends 
to retard. , 



" 1 




Billboard at Trenton, NJ. 



Thrift is necessary both for individual success and for good 
citizenship. It is only by thrift that the individual may in 
some measure repay others for the care he himself received 
during dependent childhood, and provide, during his productive 
years, for the ''rainy day" of sickness and old age. It is by 
thrift that capital is accumulated with which to carry on the 
world's work (see page 315). The citizen who saves and invests 
his savings in a home, in business enterprises, in bonds or savings 
stamps, not only makes his own future secure, but becomes 
identified with the community and takes a greater interest in it 

^S. W. Strauss, "The Patriotism of War Savings." 



THRIFT 303 

(see pages 113-114). The thrifty citizen inspires the confi- 
dence of the community, and acquires an influence in com- 
munity affairs that the unthrifty citizen does not enjoy. Thrift 
is often confused with stinginess and selfishness. On the con- 
trary it alone makes generosity and service possible. 

''Thrift is the very essence of democracy." t'or democracy 
means freedom, equality of opportunity, "self-determination." 
No man is a greater slave than one who is bound Thrift the 
and driven by financial necessity. By thrift the " essence of 
mind is "unfettered by the petty annoyances that ^^^^^^^^ 
result from improvident ways." Thrift means providing for 
the future. There is nothing in the world that will so establish 
one's faith in the future and that will, therefore, give that free- 
dom of spirit upon which democracy depends, as the wise use 
of to-day and of to-day's resources. 

"Every man must practice thrift and every man must have 
the chance of practicing it." It is a right as well as a duty. 
Before the war it was said that four fifths of the r^Yaiii a right 
wage earners of our country received less than as well as 
$750 a year for their labor. Studies in various 
cities also showed that an average family of five could not 
maintain health and efiiciency on an income of less than from 
$750 to $1,000. Under such circumstances thrift is the strictest 
necessity, but it is a thrift that means pinching economy and the 
sacrifice of health and efficiency. It is not the thrift that pro- 
vides for the future and gives freedom to the individual, the 
thrift that is "the essence of democracy itself." Every man 
should have an opportunity to earn a "living wage," which in- 
cludes an opportunity to provide for the future. Democracy 
is not complete until that opportunity is afforded. 

Thrift, or the good management of the business of living, 
is shown (i) in earning, (2) in spending, (3) in saving, and (4) in 
investing. 



304 



COML^x UNITY CIVICS 





An Unsightly Vacant City Lot Made Profitable 
AND Beautiful 



THRIFT 305 

(i) Since the earning of a living was the subject of Chapter 
XVI, we need not dwell upon it now except to note that a thrifty 
person is an industrious person — he makes wise Thrift in 
use of his time ; and also to note that many of those earning 
who are now in want, or who, in advanced years, are receiving 
small wages, owe their condition to a failure at some time or 
other to make use of the opportunity for thrift. Many people 
do not recognize the opportunity when it is presented, or lack 
the wisdom or the courage to seize it. Thrift involves making 
a choice, and in many cases a wise choice requires courage as 
well as wisdom. It is a choice between the satisfaction of 
present wants and the sacrifice of present enjoyment for the 
sake of greater satisfaction and service in the future. 

When a boy in school has a chance to take a job that will 
pay him wages, he has to make a choice between it and remain- 
ing in school. It may seem to be the thrifty thing to go to work ; 
but real thrift is shown by careful choice of vocation, and by 
thorough preparation for it, even though it requires sacrifices 
that seem difficult (see pages 295, 297). 

(2) After money has been earned, thrift shows itself first 
of all in the way the money is spent ; and many of us have the 
spending of the money that some one else has Thrift in 
earned. Every time we spend a nickel or a dollar spending 
we make a choice — ■ we choose to spend or not to spend, how 
much we shall spend, for what we shall spend. 

A lawyer in a small town reports that in one month he made 
out the necessary papers to enable 75 men to mortgage their 
homes to buy automobiles. 

One reason, perhaps, for extravagance in food and clothing 
on the part of unintelligent people who find themselves unusually 
prosperous, is that they see no better way to spend their money. 
Those who find pleasure in books, in education for their children, 
in travel, in investing money in productive and serviceable 
enterprises, and in the higher things of life, have to make 



3o6 



COMMUNITY CIVICS 




The Woolworth Building, New York City 
The tallest building, and one of the most beautiful, in the United States. It was 
built by a man whose fortune was made from the profits of " 5 and 10 cent stores." 



THRIFT 307 

a choice in regard to what they shall enjoy, and as a rule prefer to 
sacrifice the grosser pleasures. 

People, and especially young people, need a certain amount of 
sweets in their diet. But when we know that the candy bill 
of the people of the United States amounts to choosing 
$400,000,000 a year, that this is almost as much what to spend 
as the total amount spent for public education, that it is about 
double the amount used to keep Belgium supphed with food for a 
year during the war, or that it will buy 400 million bushels of 
corn at li.oo a bushel, we may well think twice before deciding 
to spend much money for candy. 

The few cents' difference in the price of two articles between 
which we must choose, and the nickels we spend for immediate 
enjoyment, may seem to amount to very little; but the New 
York City street railways collected in a year $95,000,000 in 
five-cent fares, and the Woolworth Building in New York, one 
of the largest office buildings in the United States, was built 
from the profits of "5 and 10 cent stores." One thrift stamp 
a week amounts in five years to $65, and 14 cents a day at 4 
per cent interest amounts in twenty years to more than $1500. 

In one of the "Ten Lessons in Thrift," the following 
" tests in buying " are given : Tests for 

Do I need it? ^^"^^^^ 

Do I need it now? 

Do I need something else more? 

Will it pay for itself in the end ? 

Do I help or injure the community in buying this? 
' Do you have instruction in your school in home economics that, relates 
to wise spending or buying? 

If you do not have such instruction, write to your state agricultural col- 
lege, or to the States Relations Service, Department of Agriculture, Wash- 
ington, D.C., for circulars or bulletins relating to thrift in buying food, 
clothing, etc. 

In writing for such material, why is it an example of thrift to ask for 
one copy of each publication for yom class or for your school, rather than to 
ask for a copy for each pupil? 



3o8 COMMUNITY CIVICS 

In what ways is thrift shown by having a class committee write one 
letter making the request for the class instead of having each member of 
the class write? 

Who in your family makes most of the expenditures for the family living? 

For what items in the family living is most of the money spent? 

What are some of the things that have to be considered in buying food? 
clothing? house furnishings? books? amusements? 

Make a study at the grocery of the relative prices of articles bought in 
small and large quantities : for example, laundry soap by the bar, by the 
quarter's worth, by the box; canned goods by the can, by the dozen, and 
by the case; flour by the pound, by the 25-pound sack, 50-pound sack, by 
the barrel; etc. 

Make a study of the relative prices of articles in bulk and in package; 
for example, vinegar by the bottle and by the gallon ; bacon in bulk and in 
jars, etc. 

Why may it be economy to buy some food articles in packages rather 
than in bulk, even at a higher price? Give examples. 

Which is likely to be more economical, to buy groceries by telephone or 
in person? To buy by mail order or at the store in town? Why? 

At Christmas time the Park View community center in Washington, 
D.C., ordered 140 turkeys from a rural neighborhood center in Maryland. 
The turkeys were brought by the producers to the schoolhouse of the rural 
neighborhood, taken by a postal service motor-truck to the schoolhouse of 
the Park View center in Washington, and from there distributed to the 
140 families. The city buyers paid an average of 15 cents a pound less 
than the price prevailing in the Washington markets, and the producers 
received 6 cents a pound more than the Washington markets were paying. 

Why was there a saving to both producer and consumer in the above 
case? What costs of marketing were cut out or reduced? 

What is the "middleman"? Does he perform a real service to the 
community? Should he be paid for his service? Why? Is it just that 
the middleman should be "eliminated" by cooperative marketing and 
buying organizations? Why? 

Is there any cooperative buying organization in your community? If 
so, how has it benefited the community? If not, why? (Consult your 
parents and others.) 

Get publications from your state agricultural college relating to co- 
operative buying and selling. 

Wise expenditures depend not only upon knowledge of prices 
and qualities, but also upon good management, as in planning 



THRIFT 309 

ahead. One plan that has been the means of Hf ting many individ- 
uals and families out of financial difficulties and of enabling 
them to lay by as savings a portion of their income, Thrift in 
however small the latter may be, is the budget, management 
which means the apportionment of expenditures according to a 
plan laid out in advance. No budget can apply to all families 
alike, but the following illustrates the principle : 

House (rent, taxes, insurance, repairs) 25% 

Food (all expenditures for the table, ice, etc.) 30% 

Clothing (materials and making, repairing, cleaning, press- 
ing, millinery, shoes) 13% 

Housekeeping (labor and materials for laundry, fuel and 

light, telephone, supplies, and furnishings) 12% 

Educational (school and school books, club dues, church 
and charity contributions, gifts, books, magazines, news- 
papers, amusements, medical and dental treatment) . . 6% 

Luxuries (all items not necessaries and not coming under 

"educational," such as candies, etc.) 4% 

Savings 10% 

Total 100% 

Before a budget can be planned, and in order to know whether 
it is being lived up to, it is necessary to keep accounts of re- 
ceipts and expenditures. With such accounts, it is possible to 
determine where savings can be made under some heads and 
where, perhaps, it is necessary or advisable to spend more. 

Is a budget used in your home? Find out from your parents their reason 
for using, or not using it. 

Could you use a budget in your own personal affairs? 

Find out whether a budget system is used by your local government 
and your state government in apportioning expenditures. 

How may we "budget" our time? Is the time you spend in school 
"budgeted"? Make a daily time budget for yourself. 

When is clothing a necessity and when a luxury? 1 

When is food a necessity and when an amusement? 

When is amusement education and when a frivolity? 

When are club dues education and when amusement? 

This and the following topics are adapted from "Ten Lessons in Thrift." 



1' 



3IO 



COMIVIUNITY CIVICS 



When is vacation health and when amusement? 
"When is the theater amusement and when indulgence? 
When is rent a necessity and when an extravagance? 











A 

100% 
Home 




# 

■ 


7th Step 


Analyze 
Accounts 


6th Step 


Adopt 
Accurate Accounts 




5th Step 


Build a Budget 


i 


^.th Step 


Make Practice 
Follow Precept 


2d St 


3d Step 


Estimate Expenses 


ep 


Consider Cost 


I St Step 


Know Needs 



Seven Steps Towaed Saving ^ 

(3) The object of thrift in spending is both to get the greatest 
value for our money now and to insure savings that will provide 
Thrift in for the future. Every budget should make as 

saving definite provision for savings as for rent or clothing. 

The purpose of a budget and of accounts is to assure a surplus 
rather than a deficit. Successful men and women make it a 
practice always to spend less than they earn, no matter how 
little they earn, and they cannot be sure of this without planning 
ahead and keeping accounts. Saving in this way is largely a 
matter of habit ; but it is astonishing how many fail to form the 
habit. Court records show that out of every 100 men who die, 
82 leave no income-producing estates, or that about 85 per cent 

iProm "Suggestions for Home Demonstration Agents regarding Methods of 
Teaching Thrift," States Relations Service Circular, Dec. 27, 1918. 



THRIFT 311 

who reach the age of 65 are dependent upon relatives or upon 
the community. "Out of every 100 widows, only 18 are left 
in comfortable circumstances, while 47 are obliged to go to work 
and 35 are left in absolute want." ^ 

Wise buying means saving money ; and so does the wise use 
of what we buy. It is said that an American ship can be dis- 
tinguished from the ships of other nations in harbor American 
by the flocks of gulls that hover around to feast on extravagance 
the food thrown overboard. Whether this is true or not, 
Americans have a reputation for wastefulness. It has been 
called our chief national sin. It is said that a family in France 
can live in comfort on what an American family in the same 
circumstances ordinarily throws away. An average load of 
garbage in New York City has been shown to contain fifty 
dollars' worth of good food materials. Investigations by the 
Food Administration showed that there is enough glycerine in a 
ton of garbage to make explosives for 14 shells, enough fat and 
acid to make 75 bars of soap, and enough fertilizer to grow 8 
bushels of wheat. It is said that 24 cities wasted enough garbage 
to make 4 million pounds of nitroglycerine, 40 miUion cakes of 
soap, and fertilizer for 3 million bushels of wheat. On the 
other hand 300 cities produced 52 million pounds of pork by 
feeding their garbage to hogs. 

The Department of Agriculture has shown that the waste of 

a half-cup of milk daily by each of the 20 million famihes in 

the United States would equal in a year the total ^^^^ gj^^il 

production of 400 thousand cows ; that one ounce savings 
, , ., 1 1 • will do 

of meat or fat saved daily would m a year mean 
875 thousand steers, or a milhon hogs ; and that if 81 per cent 
of the whole wheat were used in bread instead of 75 per cent, the 
savings in a year would feed 12 million people. During the war 
our government organized a campaign for the salvage of ''junk," 

1 S. W. Strauss, "The Greater Thrift," National Education Association Proceed- 
ings, 1916, p. 278. 



312 



COMMUNITY CIVICS 





Salvaging Waste Paper 



THRIFT 313 

and the total amount collected had a value of i^ billion dollars. 
The school children of Des Moines, Iowa, are reported to have 
gathered and sold two thousand dollars' worth of waste paper in 
one week, and those of many other communities obtained similar 
results. 

Every successful business man is constantly vigilant to dis- 
cover and remedy waste in his business — waste of materials, 
time, and effort. Many of the most valuable value of 
products in certain industries are ''by-products," by-products 
— that is, products produced as an incident to the main industry 
and from materials that otherwise would have been wasted. 
In the manufacture of gas from coa , for example, important 
by-products are coke, tar, and ammonia. There has been great 
waste in the lumber industry, but now practically every scrap 
from the tree may be used. In the Forestry Products Lab- 
oratory at the University of Wisconsin, a process has been dis- 
covered of producing from 15 to 25 gallons of wood alcohol 
from a ton of sawdust — and sawdust has many othei uses. 
These are only illustrations. Scientists and inventors, many 
of them employed by the government, are constantly at work 
finding uses for waste products. 

The following topics from publications of the State Relations 
Service of the Department of Agriculture are suggestive: 

Preventing loss of food in the home : 

Suitable food storage places and equipment. 

Essentials of a good refrigerator. 

The care of winter vegetables and fruit. 

The care of perishable vegetables and fruit. 

Prevention of spoilage of milk, meat, and fish. 

Preservation of eggs. 

Care of bread and other baked products. 

What should not go into the garbage pail. 

Good cooking and attractive serving. 

Failure to use perishable food promptly. 

Failure to use left-overs completely. 



314 COMMUNITY CIVICS 

Failure to use all food materials (fats, vegetable-tops, meat and fish 
bones, etc.). 

Leaving small portions of food in mixing and cooking dishes. 

Lack of accurate measuring and mixing, so that food is not palat- 
able. 

Allowing food to become scorched or otherwise spoiled in prepara- 
tion. 

Providing over-generous portions in serving. 

Failure to eat all food served. 
Preventing loss of food in the market : 

Sanitary display cases for food. 

Prevention of "sampling" and handling of food. 

Food protection in food carts and delivery wagons. 

Proper care of milk. 

Proper care of meat and fish. 

Prevention of cereal products from deterioration. 

Protection of fruits and vegetables. 

The care of bread and bakery products. 

Careful selection of food. 
Following are special points which might be discussed : 

The well-planned house. 

Saving steps by better arrangement of equipment. 

Lessening work by systematizing it. 

Menu-planning for lessened work in preparation. 

Household lighting. 

Labor-saving equipment in the laundry, the kitchen, and the sewing 
room. 

Labor-saving devices for house cleaning. 

Leading a simple life. 

(4) Thrift involves a wise use of savings. They may be 
invested in a home, a wise use because of the satisfaction 
Thrift in that a home produces. If the home is well located, 

investment ^gji built, and well kept up, it will probably also 
increase in money value. Savings may be invested in machinery 
for farming, manufacturing, or mining ; in a stock of goods to be 
sold at a profit ; in houses or office buildings to be rented to 
others ; or they may be lent to others who pay interest for 
their use. In all these cases money represents capital — capital 



THRIFT 



315 



being the machinery or tools and other equipment with which 
wealth is produced. 

Capital is brought into existence in only one way — that is, by consuming 
less than is produced. If one has a dollar one can spend it either for an 
article of consumption, say confectionery, or for an article of production, 
say a spade. He who buys a spade becomes a capitalist to the amount of 
a dollar — that is, he becomes the owner of tools. The process is precisely 
the same whether the amount in question is a dollar or a million dollars.^ 




At the Bank 

:"\ 

Every business requires capital, some more than others. 
The necessary capital must either be saved by the Borrowing 
person who wants to use it, or it must be borrowed from others 
who have saved it. 

The advantage of borrowing is that one does not have to wait so long 
to get possession of the tools and equipment. One can get them at once 
and make them produce the means of paying for themselves. Without 
them the farmer's production might be so low as to make it difficult ever 

1 T. N. Carver, "How to Use Farm Credit," Farmers' Bulletin 593, U.S. Depart- 
ment of Agriculture, p. 2. 



3l6 COMMUNITY CIVICS 

to accumulate enough with which to buy them. With their help he may 
be able to pay for them — that is, to pay off the debt — in a shorter time 
than it would take to accumulate the purchase price without them. That 
is the only advantage of credit in any business, but it is a great advantage 
to those who know how to use it.^ 

Credit is simply a person's ability to borrow and depends upon 
the confidence that others place in him. This confidence 
depends on his reputation for honesty and his 
known ability to repay. A man, as a rule, has 
to have something — land or property of other kind — that he 
can offer as security before he can borrow much. It is for this 
reason that thrift is essential to a man's credit — thrift and 
honesty. 

There is no magic about credit. It is a powerful agency for good in the 
hands of those who know how to use it. So is a buzz saw. They are 
about equally dangerous in the hands of those who do not understand 
them. . . . Many a [man] would be better off to-day if he had never had 
a chance to borrow money at all, or go into debt for the things which he 
bought. However, there is no reason why those . . . who do know how 
to use credit should not have it. 

Shortsighted people, however, who do not realize how inexorably the 
time of payment arrives, who do not know how rapidly tools wear out and 
have to be replaced, or do not keep accounts in order that they may tell 
exactly where they stand financially, will do well to avoid borrowing. 
Debts have to be paid with deadly certainty, and they who do not have 
the wherewithal when the day of reckoning arrives become bankrupt with 
equal certainty. 

On the other hand there is nothing disgraceful in borrowing for productive 
purposes. The feeling that it is not quite respectable to go into debt has 
grown out of the old habit of borrowing to pay living expenses. That 
was regarded, perhaps rightly, as a sign of incompetency. . . . But to 
borrow for a genuinely productive purpose, for a purpose that will bring 
you in more than enough to pay off your debt, principle and interest, is a 
profitable enterprise. It shows business sagacity and courage, and is not 
a thing to be ashamed of. But it cannot be too much emphasized that the 
would-be borrower must calculate very carefully and be sure that it is a 
productive enterprise before he goes into debt.^ 

1 T. N. Carver, "How to Use Farm Credit," p. 2. 



THRIFT 317 

Much of the capital used in business is borrowed, and is 
made up of small savings. The enormous capital of railroads, 
for example, is derived- chiefly from the savings of p^^^^^^^j^. 
millions of people, some of whom buy shares of rail- jn the 
road stock directly, but most of whom deposit their ^^^^^^^^ 
savings in banks or other institutions which, in 
turn, lend it to the railroads or invest it in their stock. The 
school boy or girl who has a savings account in a bank thus 
may become a partner in various business enterprises of the 
country. Their dollars or dimes, added to the dollars and dimes 
of many other people, are used to buy machinery and tools and 
materials, and to pay labor. Because of the service performed 
by their savings they receive interest on their money. 

The savings bank is always on hand for the use of those who 
live in cities. Its business is conducted in accordance with state 
or national laws for the protection of the depositor against loss of 
his money. School savings banks have been organized in many 
schools, the pupils depositing small amounts regularly with their 
teacher, or with one of their own number who acts as ''bank 
teller." The total amount so deposited is then taken to a bank 
in the community, thus bringing into use in the world's work 
many small sums of money that would otherwise be lying idle 
or spent unwisely. The school bank not only promotes habits of 
thrift, but may also afford excellent training in business methods 
of accounting. 

In 1910 Congress established the Postal Savings System 
under which any post ofhce may act as a savings bank. Any 
person over ten years of age may deposit money p^g^ai 
at the postal savings bank in amounts of from Savings 
$1.00 to $25.00, receiving from the postmaster ^^ ^"^ ^ ^ 
postal savings certificates as evidence of the deposit. Provision 
is made for savings accounts of less than a dollar by selling 
postal savings stamps at ten cents each, ten of which may be 
deposited in exchange for a dollar certificate. Two per cent 



3^^ 



COMMUNITY CIVICS 



interest is paid on postal savings, but savings certificates may 
bs exchanged for postal savings bonds, bearing interest at the 
rate of 2 J per cent. The rate of interest paid by a postal savings 
bank is lower than that paid by an ordinary savings bank, but 
many people prefer to accept the smaller rate of interest because 
of their greater confidence in the government ; that is, the credit 




A School Bank in Operation 



of the government is better than that of private individuals or 
agencies. The foreign-born population of the United States 
makes wide use of the postal savings banks, not only because of 
their convenience, but also because of faith in the government 
which operates the post offices. 

The purchase of Liberty Bonds or Savings Stamps and Thrift 
Stamps is a good investment and a patriotic act. The money 
Lending raised in this way is used for the national defense 

to the and for reconstruction after the war. The Savings 

government x)ivision of the United States Treasury Depart- 
ment carries on a campaign of thrift education. Among other 



THRIFT 



319 



things, it promotes the organization of savings societies and 
thrift clubs, because thrift is a habit which is encouraged by 
the example and cooperation of others. In Randolph County, 
Indiana, for example, each consolidated school has its thrift 
club, and over 75 per cent of the pupils are members. One of 




State Thrift Congress of Ohio School Pupils 

Held in the Chamber of the House of Representatives, State House, Columbus, O. 
Each county in the state sent a representative to this Congress from the school 
making the best thrift record. Each representative sat in the seat usually occupied 
by his county's representative in the legislature. Thrift subjects were discussed and 
appropriate resolutions passed. The lieutenant-governor of the state is presiding 
at this session. 



these schools sold over |i 1,000 worth of thrift stamps, and 
others sold from $1,500 to $3,500 worth. Savings societies 
exist among the workmen of many industries, and employers 
report that these have increased the purchase of homes, and have 
resulted in a saving of materials and tools because of the habits 
of thrift established. 

Among many other agencies that promote thrift we shall 
only mention building and loan associations and insurance. 



320 COMMUNITY CIVICS 

A person of small means may buy shares of stock in a building 
and loan association, paying for them in small monthly pay- 
Insurance ments. The association pays interest on the 
money so deposited. When the shareholder has a sufficient 
amount to his credit, he may borrow from the association for 
purposes of home-building. Such associations have therefore 
not only promoted thrift, but have also encouraged the building 
of homes by people of smxall means. Insurance affords a partic- 
ularly good illustration of organized cooperation. The pre- 
miums paid by thousands of policy holders produce a large 
sum of money, part of which goes to pay the expenses of the 
insurance company, but most of which is invested in enterprises 
that cause the amount rapidly to increase. Out of this fund the 
occasional losses of individuals are paid. Life insurance is a good 
form of investment. It provides for the future of the family of 
the insured in case of his death. By the endowment plan the 
insured may himself receive, .at the end of a specified number of 
years, all that he has paid in premiums together with interest. 
Young people may frequently find opportunity to invest 
savings directly in productive business enterprises of their own. 
It may be that such opportunities are less abundant in large 
cities than in smaller places. In rural communities boys' and 
girls' clubs have become quite common — such as pig clubs, 
poultry clubs, corn clubs, canning clubs, and the like. Such clubs 
are promoted by the United States Department of Agriculture 
and by state agricultural colleges. When a boy (or a girl) invests 
a little money in a pig, or a calf, or garden tools, he becomes a 
capitalist to that extent. Many city boys and girls have culti- 
vated gardens in back yards or on vacant lots that have yielded 
a good profit on the investment in seeds, tools, etc. Many a 
successful business man has laid the foundation of his business 
success while still a boy, first by saving, and then by investing 
his savings in some small business, such as, for example, the 
purchase of a newspaper route. 



THRIFT 



321 



As we proceed with our study we shall encounter other 
aspects of thrift in various chapters. As a nation we may be 
thrifty or unthrifty in the use of our resources (see Chapter XX). 
Thrift is as essential in our "community housekeeping," which 
is carried on by government, as in our homes and business. But 
we can hardly expect thrift to become a national characteristic 
unless it first becomes a personal habit. 




Good Returns on the Investment 
Boys' Club and leader examining a good litter of pigs 

Are you a capitalist? If so, explain in what way. 

What business enterprises do you know of that are engaged in by boys 
and girls, and that require the use of capital? 

What forms does the capital take with which your father does business? 

What capital does an Eskimo have? the American Indians when the 
country was first settled? 

Do you belong to a thrift club? Would it be desirable to organize one 
in your school? Confer with your teacher and principal about it. Write 
to the Savings Division, U.S. Treasury Department, Washington, D.C., for 
hterature regarding organization. 



32 2 COMMUNITY CIVICS 

Is there a credit union, or a savings association, or other organization 
to promote thrift in your community? If so, find out how it operates. 

Write a story on the subject, "What my five dollars may accomplish 
after I put it in the savings bank, before it comes back to me with interest." 

If there is a building and loan association in your community, investigate 
its methods of doing business. Consult your parents. 

READINGS 

In Lessons in Community and National Life: 
Series A : Lesson 6, Capital. 

Lesson 13, United States Food Administration. 
Lesson 14, Substitute foods. 
Lesson 15, Woman as the family purchaser. 
Lesson 21, Borrowing capital for modern business. 
Lesson 22, The commercial bank and modern business. 
Series B.: Lesson 7, An intelligently selected diet. 
Lesson 22, Financing the war. 
Lesson 23, Thrift and war savings. 
Series C : Lesson 7, Preserving foods. 

Lesson 8, Preventing waste of human beings. 
Lesson 14, The United States Fuel Administration. 
Lesson 16, The Commercial Economy Board of the Council of National 
Defense. 
Write Savings Division, U.S. Treasury Department, for materials; especially 
"Ten Lessons in Thrift," and "Teaching Thrift in Elementary Schools." Both of 
these contain lists of readings. 

The Post Office Department has publications descriptive of the postal savings 
service. 

School Savings Banks. Bulletin, igi4, No. 46, U.S. Bureau of Education.. 
Farmers' Bulletins, U.S. Department of Agriculture, relating to thrift. 
See references in footnotes in this chapter. 

Dunn, The Community and the Citizen, chap, xiv, "Waste and Saving." 
The local public library, the State Library, and the State Agricultural College 
will doubtless furnish lists of references and perhaps provide materials. 
The United States Bureau of Education will send list of references. - 



CHAPTER XVIII 

TEAM WORK IN INDUSTRY 

It was suggested on page 75 that conflict is often more 
apparent than team work in community hfe. There is no 
denying the fact that economic or business success The struggle 
involves a struggle, and that earning a living is foraUvmg 
often Httle other than a "struggle for existence." We read 
oii page 303 that four fifths of the wage earners in the United 
States received, before the recent war, less than $750 a year 
for their labor, an amount that represents a hard struggle for 
existence, especially for those who have families to support. 
" In a single year, in this civilized country of ours, five times as 
many people were killed in industry as fell on both sides at the 
great three days' battle of Gettysburg. . . . The injured 
victims of our industrial system number considerably more 
than a million every year." ^ Poverty, disease, crime, and vice 
are among the products or by-products of the convict. It 
has broken up families (see page 128), and forced women and 
children into it for the support of their families, even as they 
entered the trenches in Russia in the dark days of the war. 

It is true that those who suffer from the conflict are often the 
victims of their own incompetence (see page 305)^ The casual- 
ties from industrial accidents are often due to conflict due 
sheer ignorance or carelessness. Poverty may to lack of 
result from a lack of thrift, or from an unwise 
choice of vocation or lack of training for it. But the respon- 
sibility for these things goes back largely to the fact that there 

1 Ashley, The New Civics, p. 379. 
323 



324 



COMMUNITY CIVICS 



is strife where there ought to be team work, or that team work 
is very imperfectly developed. Sometimes selfishness, greed, 
or the love of power leads individuals to prey upon others 
very much as the highwayman would do. But as a rule, the 
conflict is due to a lack of vision on the part of the contending 
groups that would enable them to see their great common 
interests above their narrower group interests. 




A Group of Friendly Competitors 



Competition 



We give the name competition to one form of this conflict. 
Every boy or girl who goes out into the world to earn a living 
has to compete with others for positions, just as in 
school they may compete for places on athletic 
teams. Workmen in the same trade compete for the jobs that 
the community has to offer, grocers for the trade of the com- 
munity, railroads for traffic between the same two points. 
This competition may become intense, at times, as when there 
are more grocers than the community needs to supply it with 
food, or more workmen than there are jobs. If there are more 



TEAM WORK IN INDUSTRY 325 

jobs than there are workmen, then employers compete for the 
workmen who are available. 

The competition of two grocers for neighborhood trade may take a form 
that is injurious to the community, and that may ultimately destroy one 
or both of themselves. If one of them, intent on driving out his rival, begins 
to cut prices, and the other retaliates, the community may at first gain some 
benefit from the competition. But if, in order to keep alive, one or both 
of them should begin to sell inferior goods, or to give short measure, or to 
render poor service in other ways, not only will the community suffer, but 
one or both of the grocers will probably be. ruined in the long run. The 
competition may, however, take another, more far-sighted form. Each 
may set out to make his service to the community better than that of the 
other, offering the best goods at fair prices, delivering promptly, keeping 
the store clean and attractive, accommodating customers in every reasonable 
way. In this case the community is benefited, and the chances are that 
the business of each will prosper ; or, if one is left behind in the race, it is 
for the just reason that he is the poorer servant of the community. 

Is competition in school for athletic positions, or for scholarship rank, 
a good thing? Why? 

Give examples of what you would consider sportsmanlike and unsports- 
manlike competition in school affairs. 

Sometimes a person holding a position, like that of a foreman, may refuse 
to help those working with him or under him for fear that one of them may 
'get his job." Is this sportsmanlike or fair? Why? What does it show 
with respect to the competence of the person? Is a really competent person 
afraid of fair competition? 

Do boys and girls who seek jobs after leaving school meet with much 
competition in your community? For whom do the business men of the 
community compete most keenly, those who have finished their education, 
or those who have left school before completing the course? 

Is there keen competition among workmen for jobs, or among employers 
for workmen, in your community at the present time? How does this com- 
petition show itself? Is the competition greater for skilled or unskilled 
workmen in your community? Bring in facts to prove your answer. 

In what industries in your community is there the keenest competition 
for workmen, or for jobs ? 

Is there keen competition among merchants of your community ? Among 
what kinds of merchants is it keenest ? How does it show itself ? 

What can you say about competition in the professions in your city? 



326 



COMMUNITY CIVICS 



Which, tends to secure the better service to the community — com- 
petition among many persons for a few positions, or competition among 
employers for a few people to fill their positions? Why? 

Is it desirable to have competing telephone systems in one city? Com- 
peting street railway lines? Competing steam railroads connecting your 
city with other cities? Why, in each case? 




A Protest Against High Prices 



Competition among workmen for jobs tends to bring wages 
down, to the direct disadvantage of the workmen. But as the 
Income and reduction in wages lessens the employers' cost of 
cost of living producing goods, it tends to reduce the prices of 
the goods, which is an advantage to the community, including 
the workmen themselves, who are consumers of goods as well 
as producers. Thus a reduction in money wages is not neces- 
sarily a disadvantage to the workmen, provided the cost of 
living is also reduced. On the other hand, competition among 
employers for workmen tends to raise the wages, to the direct 



TEAM WORK IN INDUSTRY 327 

advantage of the workmen. But since this increase in wages 
also increases the cost of producing the goods, it is a disadvan- 
tage to the employer, unless he increases the price of the goods, 
thus increasing the cost of living. Thus there tends to be a 
balancing of wages or other income with the cost of living. 

It may be, however, that when wages go down the employers 
may keep prices up to where they were before, thus securing 
a larger profit, while consumers bear the loss. Domination of 
Or when wages go up because of a scarcity of labor, self-interest 
employers may take advantage of it to raise prices more than 
enough to cover the increased cost of production, again to the 
disadvantage of the consumer. This is a form of profiteering. 
On the other hand, workmen may take advantage of the fact 
that they are in great demand, and not only secure higher 
wages, and perhaps shorter hours of work, but also do less work, 
or poorer work, during the hours when they are employed, to 
the disadvantage of their employers and of the consumers of 
the goods produced. In either case, the employer or the work- 
man is dominated by self-interest rather than by mutual interest 
or the common interest of the community. 

The most serious conflict in community life to-day is that 
between the employer and the wage earner, — those who 
furnish the labor and those who furnish the capital Conflict be- 
for the production of the wealth that satisfies our earner^nd^ 
wants. A study made before the war showed that employer 
approximately three fifths of all the property in the United 
States was owned by two per cent of the population, while 
sixty-five per cent of the population had no property what- 
ever. Such inequality in the distribution of wealth has nour- 
ished a sense of injustice among those who furnish the labor. 
Moreover, they lay the responsibility for low wages, long hours 
of work, the employment of women and children in industry, 
frequent periods of unemployment, ill health and injury result- 
ing from unsafe conditions of work, poverty, wretched home 



328 



COMMUNITY CIVICS 



conditions, at the door of an industrial system which seems to 
them to have been built up primarily to safeguard the prof- 
its of the comparatively few who furnish the capital. The 
result has been a long and bitter struggle for the allotment 
of a larger share of the proceeds of industry to those who 
furnish the labor. 




A Household Industry in the Mountains of the South 



The problems involved in this conflict between the employing and wage- 
earning groups are among the most difficult to understand and to deal with 
that the civilized nations have to face; altogether too difficult to be fully 
explained in this place. But our study up to this time should enable us to 
appreciate the broad underlying cause of the difficulty, and should put us 
in a proper frame of mind to consider the facts involved in the problem as 
they come to our notice. There is need for this, because this great economic 
struggle is so intense that prejudice and anger and suffering and fear often 
interfere with straight thinking and calm judgment on the part of those 
concerned in it (see page 22). 

The conflict between capital and labor need never have 
occurred if both parties to it had always been wise enough to 
see that they are in reality partners in an enterprise for the com- 



TEAM WORK IN INDUSTRY 329 

mon good, and to have acted in accordance with this fact. Each 
has something to contribute to the enterprise that the other 
does not have and cannot get along without. The capitalis- 
Capital, as we have seen (page 315), consists tic system 
of the tools and equipment which labor uses. It is acquired by 
saving (page 314). Many people earn their living by occupa- 
tions that require so little capital that they can furnish it them- 
selves from their own savings, as in the case of the newsboy, 
the fruit peddler, the small merchant, the cobbler, the dress- 
maker, and the like. In the days when weaving, shoemaking, 
cabinetmaking, and many other industries were carried on in 
the home or in small shops by hand processes, it was quite the 
usual thing for the workman to furnish his own capital. When 
the invention of machinery and the steam engine resulted in 
the factory system of industry, a new situation was created. 
The establishment and operation of large industrial plants and 
business enterprises required more capital than the workman 
could furnish. It had to be drawn from those members of the 
community who had accumulated large savings, and who 
therefore came to be known as capitalists. The system of 
industrial organization which resulted is known as the capital- 
istic system, or capitalism. 

Those who put their money into a factory or business not un- 
naturally considered that they owned it, and that, therefore, 
they had a right to control it. They not only bought jj^^^ capital- 
the land, buildings, machinery, and materials, but ists. gained 
also the labor required, paying for it in wages. 
Another reason why the control of industry passed into the hands 
of capitalists was because the management of a great industry 
or business requires a high degree of inteUigence, and education in 
those days was limited to the well-to-do. In fact, the intelli- 
gence and skill necessary for the management of a great industry 
are so great that specially trained managers had to be sought ; 
but these also were employed by the capitaHsts, or "owners." 



330 COMMUNITY CIVICS 

The trouble began when the capitalists assumed that because 
they ''.owned" the business, through having put their money 
Failure to into it, the business existed solely for their own 

recognize profit, overlookiner the interest of their partners 

mutual m- , , , , -1 

terests who furnish the labor, and even that of the com- 

munity as a whole, which has a decided interest in the business 
(see page 286). The capitalist is, of course, entitled to a profit 
as a recompense for the use of his capital. If there were no ex- 
pectation of financial reward, one of the strongest inducements 
for the investment of capital in business would be removed. 
But profit gained at the sacrifice of others' interests is not just. 
It is not meant, of course, to suggest that employers of labor are 
always unmindful of its interests or those of the community ; 
but it has been true to an extent sufiicient to arouse bitter 
hostility to the capitalistic system. On the other hand, in 
defending and promoting their own interests, those who furnish 
the labor have not always been mindful of the interests of 
those who furnish the capital, nor of the interests of the 
community which both serve. 

Capitalists have an advantage in conflict with labor for 
various reasons. It requires capital, or savings, to carry on 
Advantage the Struggle. This is shown especially at times 
anized °^" when open conflict occurs, as in a strike, for those 
capital who have the most savings can endure longest the 

cessation of industry. They are better able, also, at all times, 
to carry on propaganda (see page 248) to win public support. 
The capitalist group has also had, as a rule, the best leadership, 
for the ablest men tend to rise out of the ranks of labor into 
those of capital. Moreover, capital has long been thoroughly 
organized for effective cooperation, while labor has only recently 
effected such organization. 

Nearly all big business is carried on by corporations. A 
corporation is a group of people associated together by a legal 
procedure to carry on a business or other enterprise. A number 



TEAM WORK IN INDUSTRY 33 1 

of people may be "incorporated" as a social club, as a philan- 
thropic association, or as a college. A business corporation is 
an association of capitalists to conduct business 
for profit. It may consist of only a few mem- ^^® corpora- 
bers, or of many thousands, each of whom owns 
one or more shares of the capital stock. These members may 
be scattered widely over the entire country. The corpora- 
tion may represent a few thousand dollars of capital, or it 
may represent millions. One corporation in the steel indus- 
try is said to have a capital of a billion dollars. There has 
been a constant tendency toward larger and larger combina- 
tions of capital for the control of the world's business. It 
has not been uncommon for a great corporation to control 
not only one great business, such as a railroad, but also, 
directly or indirectly, other related businesses, such as coal 
mines and banking institutions. 

This combination of capital has very decided advantages. 
Without attempting to analyze them in detail, we may say that 
they include economy and efficiency of operation, p^^gj. ^f 
which mean, or should mean, lower prices and a ganized 
better product or service for the consumer. On ^^^^ 
the other hand, such combinations of capital carry with them 
a dangerous power, if they are improperly used. For example, 
they may stifle wholesome competition (see page 324) by ab- 
sorbing or driving out of business smaller competitors, thus 
gaining a monopoly in a given industry or service. Relieved of 
competition, the big corporation has the power, if it cares to use 
it, of giving poor service, or of exercising improper control over 
prices and wages. Organized capital has also not infrequently 
exercised undue influence over government. 

As this chapter is being written, the newspapers report that in a certain 
city a coal dealer has brought charges against a coal dealers' association of 
having driven him out of business. According to the charges, the associa- 
tion of coal dealers had agreed to maintain prices to consumers of coal at 



332 



COMMUNITY CIVICS 




The Curb Market in Broad Street, New York City 
In the heart of the financial center of New York and of the nation 



a certain point. The offending dealer found that he could sell coal at a 
considerably lower price, and did so. The association then brought its 
power to bear to prevent the offending dealer from buying coal, and thus 
drove him out of business. Whether or not the charges were true in this 
particular case, it illustrates the point made in the preceding paragraph. 



TEAM WORK IN INDUSTRY 333 

We sometimes hear people speak of "soulless corporations." 
A corporation may easily get a reputation of being ''soulless," 
not because the individual stockholders are neces- "Soulless" 
sarily soulless, or heartless, but because of the corporations 
extremely complex organization which keeps the worker re- 
mote from his real employer, and therefore out of his mind. 
The great majority of persons who invest their savings in shares 
of stock in a business, or put their money in the bank, whence 
it goes out into industry as capital, as a rule think only of 
the "profitableness" of their investment, and are utterly ignor- 
ant or unconscious of the men who labor to make their invest- 
ment profitable, and of the conditions under which these men 
work. They are also, as a rule, ignorant of the wages paid, of 
the factors that enter into the making of prices on their product, 
and of whether the business is giving effective service to the 
community. Even the members of a board of directors of a 
great corporation may be as ignorant or as thoughtless of these 
facts as the small investor ; they should know more about them, 
but their lack of knowledge is not as a rule due to any desire to 
be unjust either to the workman or to the public. 

The actual operation of a large corporation is placed in the 
hands of managers, superintendents, and foremen, who are 
responsible for employing and discharging men, Management 
fixing wages, supervising conditions of work, and of corpora- 
keeping the product up to standard in quantity ^°^® 
and quality. They constitute a barrier between the workmen 
and the real employer, the capitalist group. They are employed 
to see that the business is profitable, and profit to the owners 
has too often been secured by driving the workmen, by long 
hours of work, by low wages, by false economy in failing to 
provide safety devices and sanitaJry conditions of work, by 
"laying off" men when business is dull, and by other methods 
that work hardship to those who furnish the labor. Of these 
things the large or small investor too seldom thinks. 



334 COMMUNITY CIVICS 

What businesses and trades in your community are carried on with so 
little capital that the worker furnishes his own capital? What trades are 
still carried on by hand processes (without machinery) ? 

Report on the Industrial Revolution and its effects (see Readings below). 

Discuss the proposition that "profit gained at the sacrifice of others' 
interests is not just." 

How does a group of people "incorporate" for business or other pur- 
poses? (Consult at home, or with business acquaintances, preferably a 
lawyer friend.) 

What is the diflference between a business "partnership" and a business 
"corporation"? (Again consult at home or with friends.) What ad- 
vantages does the latter have over the former? 

Make a list of a variety of corporations in your city. Find out how some 
of them are organized. Also, the capital stock, and whether it is owned 
by a few individuals or by a large number of investors. 

In what ways do large combinations of capital secure economy and 
efficiency in operating a business? 

What is a "monopoly"? What monopolies exist in your city? Are 
these considered an advantage or a disadvantage to the city? Why? 

The lot of the wage earner, however, has steadily improved 
as the years have passed. Wages, especially those of skilled 
I ent workmen, have increased — not only the money 

in lot of the wages received, but also the actual wages as 
wage earner measured by the living that the money wages will 
buy. The working day has been shortened in most industries. 
Laws have been passed to regulate the work of women and 
children. Safety devices have been widely adopted. Sanitary 
conditions of working places have been improved. Many 
employers spend large sums of money for the health, safety, 
comfort, education, recreation, housing, of their employees 
and their families. 

This improved position of wage earners is largely the result 
of organized cooperation on their part. The worker is at a 
Organization great disadvantage when he has to bargain as an 
of labor individual with such an organization of capital as 

that described above. The organization of labor, as we know 
it to-day, had its beginnings about a hundred years ago, when 



TEAM WORK IN INDUSTRY 



335 



men in the same trade, or in related trades, began to form 
unions, usually local in character. Effective organization has 
been slow of development, partly because of the lack of good 
leadership and experience, partly because of vigorous opposition 
on the part of capital. Frequently, in the early days, organi- 
zation went on in secret. While there is still more or less 
opposition, it is now quite generally conceded that labor has 
as much right to organize in its own interests as has capital. 
The most extensive and powerful labor organization in the 
United States at the present time is the American Federation 
of Labor, which is a federation of several hundred local, state, 
national, and international labor organizations, and represents 
a membership of more than two million workers. 

Organization has brought improvement to the wage earner 
by several methods. First, most labor organizations have a 

system of benefits for their own members, such as tt 

. ' How organi- 

msurance agamst death, sickness, or accident, zation brings 
pensions for those who have grown old in service, ^^^P^^o^^^^ent 
loans to members out of employment. In the second place, 
labor organization has had great educational value. It has 
not only stimulated its own membership to self-education, but 
it has done much to educate the public mind and to create 
a public opinion sympathetic with the reasonable demands of 
labor for better conditions. Very many of the improvements 
introduced by corporations for the benefit of their employees 
have resulted from the pressure of public opinion, which labor 
organizations have helped to create. 

In the third place, labor has made gains by means of direct 
dealings with the employer. One of the principal things for which 
labor has fought is the right of collective bargaining. Collective 
Without this right, each workman has to make his bargaining 
own bargain with the employer as to wages, hours of work, and 
other matters. With it, the labor organization, through its 
representatives, bargains as a body with the employer in arriv- 



33^ 



COMMUNITY CIVICS 



ing at a scale of wages for all workmen of a given class, a mini- 
mum wage below which the employer may not go, and so on. 
The controversy is especially bitter over the ''closed shop" 
and ''open shop" question. A "closed shop" is one in which 
no workman is employed who is not a member of a union ; it 




Safety Devices in a Machine Shop 



is "closed" to non-union men. It is therefore a recognition 
of the principle of collective bargaining. An "open shop" 
is "open" to union and non-union men alike, the men being 
employed as individuals. It is therefore considered by organ- 
ized labor to be a denial of the right of collective bargaining. 
The wage earners claim that the right of collective bargaining 
is one that the employers themselves exercise when the directors 
or officers of a corporation represent thousands of stockholders 
in dealing with the workmen, and that it is no more than just 
that the wage earners should enjoy it also. The right has now 
been quite widely conceded ^ though many employers still deny it. 



TEAM WORK IN INDUSTRY 337 

Differences between organized labor and organized capital 
are sometimes settled by conferences between representatives 
of the two groups. At other times arbitration '^^ yr ^u a 
resorted to, when differences are settled by a board settling 
or commission consisting of a person selected by <^^^®^®^<^®s 
the wage earners (but not from among themselves), another 
selected by the employers, and a third by these two. A third 
method of attempting to settle disputes is by the strike, on the 
part of the wage earners, or by the lockout, on the part of the 
employers. In the strike the workmen stop work in a body; 
in a lockout the employers close their doors to the wage earners. 
Unfortunately the strike and the lockout are sometimes 
accompanied by violence, often resulting in the destruction 
of property or even loss of life. 

Another weapon sometimes used by organized labor is the 
boycott, which means concerted refusal to use the product of 
the offending employer, or to have other dealings ,p, „, 
with him, and an effort to persuade the public to cott " and the 
refrain from such dealings. It is common, for * t)lackUst" 
example, during a waiters' strike, to see "pickets" stationed 
in front of restaurants importuning passers-by not to patronize 
the latter. A corresponding weapon used by employers is the 
" blackhst," an attempt to prevent other employers from 
employing objectionable workmen. The use of the "union 
label" on manufactured articles is designed to persuade the pub- 
lic to buy such articles in preference to articles not bearing it. 

What is the difference between "money wages" and "real wages"? 
How may the former be raised or lowered without affecting the latter ? 

Make a list of labor organizations represented in your city. 

Make a study of the benefits of membership in such organizations. 

Make a report on the "welfare work" of some large industry or depart- 
ment store in your city. 

Why have employers objected to collective bargaining on the part of 
wage earners? 



338 COMMUNITY CIVICS 

Which of the three methods ot settling labor disputes mentioned in the 
paragraph% above do you think is best? Why? Can you give examples 
of the use of one or more of them in your community? 

Watch the newspapers for accounts of strikes, and note the causes. 
Also watch for labor difficulties that are settled by conference or arbitration. 

In spite of the material gains that the labor group has made, 
the conflict between it and the capitalist group still continues, 

Critical stage ^^^ ^^^' ^^ ^^^^' reached a particularly critical 
of the con- stage. The cost of living has advanced along 

^ with wages, and often more rapidly. With the 

progress of civilization the wants of men increase, and the wage 
earners are no exception to this rule. Habits of thrift have 
not always kept pace with increasing income, so that workers 
frequently find themselves no better off in this world's goods 
than when wages were lower. The great mass of unskilled 
workmen has not shared proportionately with the skilled work- 
men the benefit of higher wages, and the unskilled are usually 
the least educated, the least organized, and often the most 
turbulent. Moreover, there has been a growing belief among 
those who furnish the labor that the product of that labor by 
right belongs at least as much to them as to those who furnish 
the capital, and that they should have at least some voice in 
the management of industry. On the other hand, organized 
capital is inclined to make a desperate stand against what it 
considers aggression on the part of labor, and in defense of its 
traditional property rights. 

Thus each of the two groups engaged jointly in the pro- 
duction of wealth is perfecting its organization for team work 
Group war- in safeguarding its interests against the other. As 
^"® for team work between the two groups in their 

common task, it can hardly be said to exist. It is true that 
each does of necessity depend upon the other and cooperate 
with it up to a certain point. But the relations between them 
are very much like those between two nations that find it 



TEAM WORK IN INDUSTRY 339 

necessary and desirable to trade with each other, but each of 
which is suspicious of the other and constantly watching for 
a favorable opportunity to attack the other for some new 
advantage over it. 

What is to be the outcome? No one knows as yet. There 
are divergent views as to the way out. First, of course, are 
those, naturally within the capitalist group, who Business a 
think that everything depends upon maintaining public trust 
the established system of capitalist control. But there are 
few who fail to see that adjustments of some kind must take 
place, and in fact are taking place. At the other extreme are 
those who believe that the capitalist should be completely 
dethroned, and that labor should assume the control and reap 
the reward that has heretofore gone to the capitalist. This 
group believes that labor "owns" industry, just as capital has 
believed that industry belongs to it. This group is doubtless 
small in the United States. To it the real bolshevists of Russia 
belong. There has been a growing sympathy for labor in its 
struggle for a better living and for a just share of the wealth 
which it helps to produce; but that sympathy will be lost if 
labor makes the same error that capital made in seeking to 
appropriate industry and its proceeds for its own uses. Busi- 
ness must be considered in larger measure as a public trust 
placed in the hands of those who furnish capital and labor to 
be administered for the public good, and for the administration 
of which both labor and capital shall receive a just share of the 
proceeds as compensation for their service. 

A third answer to the question is given by the socialists. These 
are divided among themselves on many points, but their main 
underlying doctrine is that capital, as well as the land and its 
resources, belongs of right to all the people, and that it should 
be managed for the production of wealth by the people's gov- 
ernment. Socialism has gained many followers in some nations 
of the world, but it is by no means a popular solution of the 



340 COMMUNITY CIVICS 

labor situation in the United States, although it has numerous 

advocates. 

Most people in the United States believe that business and 

industry may still be carried on best by private enterprise, 

provided a way can be found to secure real team 
Profit sharing , i i-rv i • • 

work among the different groups engaged m it. 

How this can be accomplished is still a problem. Some have 
urged that its accomplishment depends upon permitting those 
who furnish the labor to share in the profits of business, not 
merely in higher wages, but as stockholders. By virtue of the 
labor they put into the business, the wage earner is conceived 
of as part owner with the capitalist, sharing in the prosperity 
of the business ; or, by investing his larger savings in the busi- 
ness, he may in fact become to that extent a capitalist, sharing 
in the capitalist's profits. There are numerous instances of 
business conducted on some such profit-sharing basis. 

Others go farther than this, and maintain that real cooperation 
between labor and capital can be effected only when labor is 
Industrial permitted to share, not only in the ownership and 
democracy profits, but also in the management of business and 
industry. This is what is meant by industrial democracy. 
Proposals of this sort have met with vigorous opposition by 
many in the capitalist group, partly because of a suspicion that 
they are attempts to gain control of industry for labor, and 
partly because of a feeling that the labor group is not yet 
capable of exercising responsibility of management. Friends 
of the proposal reply that the thing most lacking on the part 
of labor at present is a sense of responsibility for the success of 
business enterprises, and that they can acquire it only by being 
made responsible ; and also that the increased interest in the 
business on the part of labor would redound to the profit of 
both capitalist and community. Here and there employers in 
the United States are experimenting with such cooperative 
management of their business. 



TEAM WORK IN INDUSTRY 



341 



"Before the war this new method was practically unknown either in 
America or elsewhere . . . but to-day there are several hundred industries 
— or if individual plants are counted, many thousands — varying all the 
way from huge steel plants like the Colorado Fuel and Iron Company and 
the Midvale Steel Company, to little factories of a few hundred hands, 
where the new plan is being practically tried out." 




Giving First Aid in an Industrial Plant 



As a single example: The Dutchess Bleachery of Wappinger Falls, 
N.Y., is managed by a "board of management" consisting of three members 
representing the employer's side and three members representing the wage 
earners. A seventh member may be elected by the other six to act as an 
arbitrator in case of a deadlock, and his vote would be final. After all 
expenses of the mill are paid, including six per cent interest on the capital, 
the remaining profits are divided equally between the stockholders and 
the workers. At the first division of profits, the wage earners received 
dividends amounting to four per cent of their wages. In case hard times 
strike the mill, and there should be a loss instead of a profit, interest on 
capital will still be paid, and also half wages to the workmen, out of a fund 
that is being laid aside for such purpose out of profits. 



342 



COMMUNITY CIVICS 



"These new responsibilities, coupled with the new opportunities for 
a real share in any increased effort, has awakened a wholly new spirit in 
tie mill. There is a reason now for 'getting busy,' for pushing up pro- 
duction. . . . For more production, more efficient work, means more 
profits . . . and half of all profits go to them" (the workmen).^ 




A Threatened Strike in the Steel Industry 



The present warfare among those engaged in the production 
of the nation's wealth places an insuperable obstacle in the way 
of achieving our national purposes, as stated in the 
preamble to the Constitution, — *'to form a more 
perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic 
tranquility, provide for the common defense, pro- 
mote the general welfare, and secure the blessings 
There are those who hold our government more or 
less responsible for the perpetuation of the struggle. In follow- 
ing chapters we shall inquire into some of the ways in which 
government actually enters into the matter. But whatever 
our government is or does, it can never completely fulfill its 

1 Ray Stann3,rd Baker, The New Industrial Unrest, pp. 149-165. 



Industrial 
warfare an 
obstacle to 
achievement 
of national 
purpose 

of liberty." 



TEAM WORK IN INDUSTRY 343 

proper purposes as long as the people are arrayed against one 
another in hostile camps. We are in sore need of leadership 
that will bring both sides in the conflict to see that, not by 
victory of one over the other, but by team work in a common 
enterprise, will the real interests of either be served. 

Show how the conflict described in this chapter negatives each of the 
purposes stated in the preamble to the Constitution. 

What evidence can you bring in from the newspapers or other sources 
that the strife between labor and capital has reached a critical stage? 

Report on the development of cooperation among farmers for the pro- 
motion of their interests. (See Readings below.) 

What evidence can you find to show that the cooperation of the farmers 
indicates opposition to and by other interests? (For example, when 
farmers agree to withhold their wheat, or their cotton, from market until 
higher prices prevail.) 

What is meant by saying that business is a "public trust"? 

What arguments can you find for and against socialism? 

What is the distinction between socialism, anarchism, and bolshevism? 

Is government management of the post ofiice socialistic? government 
ownership of railroads? city ownership of waterworks and street railways? 

Are there any profit-sharing business enterprises in your city? If so, 
report on the operation of one of them. 

If you know of any "cooperative store" in your community, report on 
its operation. 

If a wage earner shares in the increased prosperity of an industry through 
profit sharing, should he also share in its losses? 

Report on instances of cooperative management of an industry by 
capital and labor, in your own community or elsewhere. 

READINGS 

Lessons in Community and National Life: 

Series A: Lesson 3, The cooperation of specialists in modern society. 
Lesson 6, Capital. 
Lesson 7, Organization. 
Lesson 8, The rise of machine industry. 
Lesson 11, Education as encouraged by industry. 
Lesson 20, Private control of industry. 
Lesson 25, The integration of the greatest manufacturing concern in the 

United States. ' 

Lesson 28, The worker in our society. 



344 COMMUNITY CIVICS 

Series B: Lesson 3, A cotton factory and the worker. 
Lesson 11, The work of women- 
Lesson 12, Impersonality of modem life. 

Lesson 25, Concentration of production in the meat-packing industry. 
Lesson 26, Concentration in the marketing of citrus fruit. 
Lesson 28, Women in industry. 
Lesson 29, Labor organizations. 
Lesson 31, Employment management. 
Series C: Lesson 8, Preventing waste of human beings. 
Dunn, Arthur W., Community Civics and Rural Life, chap, iii (for cooperative enter- 
prise among farmers). 
Publications of the Department of Agriculture referred to in Readings, chap, iii, 

p. 39 (for cooperation in agriculture). 
Tufts, The Real Business of Living, chaps, viii, ix, xv-xxviii (Holt). 
Burch and Patterson, American Social Problems, chaps, xiii-xv (Macmillan). 
Towne, Social Problems, chaps, iv-viii (Macmillan). 
Carlton, The History and Problems of Organized Labor (Heath). 
Baker, Ray Stannard, The New Industrial Unrest (Doubleday, Page & Co.). 



CHAPTER XIX 

HOW GOVERNMENT SERVES OUR ECONOMIC INTERESTS 

"American experience indicates that what men do for them- 
selves, on their own initiative, is better done than what pater- 
nahstic government attempts to do for them." ^ 

Americans have always disliked paternalism in government — 
which means an attempt on the part of the government to con- 
trol the personal affairs of the people as a father our govem- 
(Latin, pater) controls the affairs of a small child, ment not 
Democracy is founded on faith in the abihty of the 
people to manage their own affairs with due regard for the equal 
rights of other people. We look upon our government chiefly as 
an instrument to insure equal opportunity to all to act on their 
own initiative and to manage their own affairs; or, to use the 
terms we have used before, as an instrument, not so much 
to do things for us, as to secure team work in doing things for 
ourselves. As our community life has become more complex, 
we have come to expect the government to do many things for us, 
and to control our individual conduct in many ways, that were 
not thought of at an earlier time. This is especially true of our 
national government. Still, we adhere in the main to the 
principle that the government should do things for us only when 
it is clear that they could not be so well done by private enter- 
prise, and should control our conduct only so far as to secure 
equality of personal freedom. 

One reason why America is looked upon by all the world as 
"a land of opportunity" is because of the unusual chance it 

1 Editorial, Saturday Evening Post, February 12, 192 1. 
345 



346 COMMUNITY CIVICS 

gives to every one to choose what he wants to do for a Hving, 
A " land of and to do it in his own way without interference 
opportunity" ^y ^j^g government as long as he does not inter- 
fere with the equal rights of others. 

In so far as private business affairs must be regulated, Ameri- 
cans have as a rule preferred that it should be, as far as possible. 
State control ^y ^^^ State government, which is near by and 
of busi- more directly under their control, rather than by 

the more remote national government. A great 
deal of the law which regulates our dealings with one another 
in business matters is known as the common law, which has not 
been enacted by law-making bodies, but is vntx^ly custom that has 
come down to us from an earlier time, and has the for^e of law 
through having been recognized by the courts. It consists of 
rules of business conduct that experience has shown to be 
necessary for the sake of fairness or justice. The common law 
has been supplemented, however, by a large body of statutory 
law, which consists of statutes enacted by law-making bodies. 
Most of these laws affecting personal business relations are 
state laws, administered by state and local officers. 

It is in most cases the state law, for example, that fixes the conditions 
under which men may "incorporate" for business purposes; that regulates 
business transactions for the protection of all parties concerned, as in the 
transfer of property and other forms of contract; that regulates hours of 
work, the work of women and children, sanitary conditions of factories, 
employers' liability for accidents to workmen, what the minimum wage 
shall be, if any, and the like. It will be noted that these laws are primarily 
protective in character. Since they are state laws, they often differ greatly 
in different states. 

Each state has a system of courts (see pages 511, 514). A very 
large part of their work is the administration of justice in matters 
The part of pertaining to business disputes and property rights, 
the courts Even in the criminal courts the majority of cases are 
those in which persons are charged with the violation of the 
property rights of others, or with fraud in business transactions. 



HOW GOVERNMENT SERVES ECONOMIC INTERESTS 347 

A good deal of the administrative machinery of our state 
governments (see pages 497, 500) is employed wholly or chiefly 
in regulating business and industrial matters, state service 
This administrative machinery may be called the organization 
state's service organization (see pages 498-499). It performs 
service that the law authorizes or requires. Thus, the secretary 
of state issues certificates of incorporation to business organ- 
izations incorporating under the laws of the state (see page 330). 
There are state bank commissioners, insurance commissioners, 
railroad commissioners, and other similar ofl&cers to give effect 
to the laws relating to banks, insurance, railroads, and the like. 
Many states have labor boards or commissions to study in- 
dustrial conditions and to settle labor disputes. A large part 
of the service performed is purely protective in character, as 
in the case of state or city police or factory inspectors, or city 
fire departments. Bank and insurance commissioners and 
similar officers see that the laws are observed for the protection 
of bank depositors, insurance policy holders, etc. Sometimes 
the service performed is for the promotion of business or indus- 
trial enterprises. Thus, many states have a forestry service, 
state geologists and entomologists, agricultural boards, and 
other agencies and officers to study and conserve the natural 
resources of the state; employment bureaus; schools for voca- 
tional training. 

When our national government was created, every precaution 
was taken, by provisions in the Constitution, to prevent it from 
interfering unduly in the private affairs of citizens. Limited 
The Constitution contains special guarantees of national 
property rights (see Amendments IV nd V). government 
Congress was given certain powers to regulate business activities 
and to promote business interests, but these powers were few in 
number and related to matters that obviously could not be left 
to the individual nor even to the several states without causing 
confusion and even endangering the freedom of the people; 



348 



COMMUNITY CIVICS 



matters in which cooperation among the states was essential, 
such as foreign and interstate commerce, a system of money, 
standard weights and measures, a postal service, copyrights and 
patents for the protection of authors and inventors (Art. I, 
sec. 8, clauses 3, 5, 6, 7, 8). 




The United States Treasury, "Washington, D.C. 



Do you think that the government of your school is "paternalistic"? 
Give illustrations in support of your answer. 

Consult with some lawyer friend to get examples of "common law" 
relating to business Ufe. Report results in class. 

Investigate and report on the origin of "common law" in England. 
(See Readings.) 

Get a summary of the laws enacted at the last session of your state 
legislature (or of bills now before it for action) and make a list of the subjects 
of those relating directly to business or industrial matters. 

From the constitution of your state, or from state government reports, 
make a study of your state "service organization," and note the depart- 
ments, bureaus, commissions, etc., that deal with matters pertaining to 
commerce and industry. 



HOW GOVERNMENT SERVES ECONOMIC INTERESTS 349 

Consult your father with regard to laws that regulate his business. 
Does he consider that these laws interfere with, protect, or promote his 
business interests, and in what respect? 

Read the clauses in the United States Constitution referred to on page 348. 

In stating the policy of the incoming administration in 192 1, the Presi- 
dent of the United States said in speeches, "Less government in business, 
and more business in government." What did he mean? 

Money is a very wonderful cooperative device. Without it 
we should have to resort to barter, or a direct exchange of goods. 
In rural trading centers we sometimes see examples The service 
of this, as when a farmer brings eggs or butter to °^ ^°^®y 
market and exchanges them for flour or sugar or salt. But 
this method of exchange cannot be carried very far without 
extreme inconvenience. Money makes it unnecessary by 
affording a common medium of exchange (see page 283). 

Many kinds of things have been used as money by different 
peoples and at different times, as when the American colonists 
used strings of shells (wampum) and beaver skins Qualities of 
in trading with the Indians. But money that is ^^^^y 
really satisfactory must consist of something that not only has 
value in itself, but that is also convenient to carry and handle, 
and that is durable. For this reason the metals, and especially 
the precious metals gold and silver, are now used for the manu- 
facture of money by all civilized nations. 

Our government operates four great factories, called mints, 
for the manufacture of coin. They are at Philadelphia, New 
Orleans, Denver, and San Francisco, but are supervised by the 
director of the mint in the Department of the Treasury at Wash- 
ington, who also has charge of the eight assay offices in different 
parts of the country, where gold and silver are received in the 
form of bullion, tested for their purity, and forwarded to the 
mints for coinage. 

A great deal of the money we use, however, is made of paper, 
as it is more convenient to handle in this form. But this paper 
money merely represents gold and silver money. Some of it 



350 COMMUNITY CIVICS 

consists of gold certificates and silver certificates, for every dollar 

of which there is a gold or silver dollar in the United States 

_ Treasury. Other forms of paper money are United 

Paper money 

States notes, hank notes, and federal reserve notes, 

each of which is a promise of the government to pay to 




The Bureau of Printing and Engraving 
Where United States currency and postage stamps are engraved , 

the holder the amount indicated on the face of the note. They 
represent a form of credit (see page 316). We accept them 
because of our faith in the government to make them good at 
any time. 

The Bureau of Engraving and Printing at Washington manu- 
factures our paper money, as well as postage stamps, revenue 
stamps, bonds, and other government paper that has to be 
engraved from steel plates. 

The Bureau of Engraving and Printing employs the most expert designers, 
engravers, plate printers, and 'other artisans, besides a large force of female 
operatives counting and examining the printed securities, and printers' 
assistants who aid the printers in their respective lines, making the product 
of this bureau very difficult to counterfeit. 



HOW GOVERNMENT SERVES ECONOMIC INTERESTS 351 

In erecting and equipping the new building for the Bureau of Engraving 
and Printing, the government strove to furnish the employees with sur- 
roundings as comfortable and attractive as possible. It is in every way 
a model factory building, equipped with a cooperative lunch room, emergency 
hospital with special wards for men and women, every convenience for the 
health and well-being of the workers. 

From the gallery of the high, airy room where the big presses hum, the 
writer looked down on the men and women, singing in the sunlight as they 
printed the new Victory Bonds. The song was "The Long, Long Trail," 
to the accompaniment of the undertone of great machines, and in the con- 
tentment of the workers one caught a symbolic glimpse of the spirit of labor 
in the future toward which the world must surely advance.^ 

The value of a coin as money depends not only upon the 
amount of silver or gold it contains, but also upon the stamp 
or mark of the government which it carries. In- ^j^^ govern- 
dividuals might manufacture coins; but if they ment's 
did, the coins might vary in quality, just as shoes or ^"^^^^ ®® 
clothing and other articles vary when made by different manu- 
facturers. We have confidence in certain makes of shoes or 
clothes or tools because they bear the trademark of certain 
manufacturers in whom we have faith. When the government 
makes a silver dollar or a five-dollar gold coin, and puts its 
stamp upon it, we know that it contains exactly as much silver 
or gold as every other similar coin. The design on the coin or 
paper bill is the government's guarantee, in which we have full 
confidence. 

For a similar reason it is better to have our money made by 
the national government than by the several state governments. 
It assures us of a uniform currency throughout the National 
United States. In colonial times a number of the control of 
colonies made their own money, resulting in great ^^^^^ 
confusion in intercolonial trade. A somewhat similar difficulty 
exists to-day in international trade, because no two nations have 
exactly the same system of money; but our government helps 

^ The Federal Executive Departments as Sources of Information^ pp. 45, 46. 
Bulletin, igig, No. 74, U.S. Bureau of Education. 



352 



COMMUNITY CIVICS 



US even in this matter by keeping us informed regarding the 
rates of exchange of money between our nation and others. 

Report on the making of coin money (see Readings). 
What is done in an assay office? 

Report on the making of paper money (see Readings). 
Report on the history of money (see Readings). 
Report on the uses of money (see Readings). 




Bureau of Engraving and Printing 
Examining currency for possible defects 

One of the most important business institutions in every 
community is the bank. There are banks that operate under 
Banking state laws, and there are national hanks. The 

system latter were estabhshed by national law and are 

under the control of the Treasury Department, the comp- 
troller of the currency being the particular official responsible for 
their supervision. 

The national banking system affords an example of a service by the 
national government that is now accepted as a matter of course, but that 



I 



HOW GOVERNMENT SERVES ECONOMIC INTERESTS 353 

was at first seriously objected to. Alexander Hamilton, the Secretary of 
the Treasury during Washington's administration, favored a national bank 
as a means of helping the new government to conduct its financial operations, 
and such a bank was soon established, but only in the face of great opposition 
from those who believed that it would give the government too great in- 
fluence over the business affairs of the people. For forty years the bank 
question was one of the big political questions of the country. Our present 
national banking system dates from the Civil War, when it was created to 
aid in financing the war. 

A bank affords a safe place for the deposit of money, and, by 
bringing together many deposits, makes them available for use 
as capital in commerce and industry (see page 315). Services of 
A bank performs another great service by promot- *^® ^^"^ 
ing and safeguarding the use of credit. The means by which this 
is done are not altogether easy to explain in a brief statement, 
but one or two methods may be mentioned. 

On page 350 bank notes were mentioned as a form of credit. 

State banks once issued bank notes, but these varied so in 

value and caused such disturbance to business that „ , 
, . 1 • 1 T Bank notes 

the national government laid a heavy tax on them, 

so heavy that the state banks could no longer issue them. 
National banks still issue bank notes, but to do so they must buy 
government bonds and deposit these with the United States 
Treasury as security. National bank notes are backed by the 
credit of the United States government. 

In most business transactions no actual money changes hands 
at all. One device that makes this possible is the bank check. 
It is said that eighty or eighty-five per cent of the 
country's total business is transacted by means of 
checks. Stating the idea in another way, the amount of busi- 
ness transacted in one year (1913) by the use of checks was 
estimated to be fifty-four times greater than the average amount 
of money actually on deposit in the country's banks. We have 
seen that a bank does not keep on hand all the money that is 
deposited with it, but lends or invests a large part of it as capital 



354 



COMMUNITY CIVICS 



in business enterprises. This is possible because checks serve 
our purposes fully as well as real money for most of our business 
transactions. 

While it is true that small depositors sometimes check out from month 
to month an amount equal, or almost equal, to their deposits, most banks 
have a rule that a depositor must maintain an average balance on deposit, 




Machine That Signs Ten Checks At a Time 
Used in the Bureau of War Risk Insurance 



say to an amount of not less than $200, If we take into consideration 
all the customers of any bank, we shall find that their aggregate with- 
drawals by check are very much less than their aggregate deposits. Thus 
it is that banks have on hand enough money to meet all ordinary cash with- 
drawals by check. 

It has sometimes happened, however, that heavy demands on 
banks for cash beyond their immediate ability to pay have 
Instability of caused them to close their doors. Periods of busi- 
credit j^ggg "panic" have occurred when banks failed in 

large numbers, dragging down with them business concerns of 



HOW GOVERNMENT SERVES ECONOMIC INTERESTS 355 

other kinds. To prevent this sort of thing Congress, in 1913, 
created the Federal Reserve System of banks, at the head of which 
is the Federal Reserve Board composed of the Secre- Federal re- 
tary of the Treasury, the comptroller of the cur- serve banks 
rency, and five other members appointed by the President. The 
country is divided into twelve federal reserve districts, with a 




In the Census Bureau 
Getting printed forms ready for taking the census 

federal reserve bank in an important 'city of each district. In 
each federal reserve bank there are kept ample reserves of 
money that can be shifted quickly from one part of the dis- 
trict to another, or from one district to another, as business 
needs may require. The system has already proved its usefulness 
in increasing business confidence. 

Report on the services of a commercial bank (see Readings; also consult 
your father or business friends). 

Make a list of the banks in your community, classifying them as state 
banks and national banks. 



356 COMMUNITY CIVICS 

What is a "trust company"? How does it differ from a bank? Add 
trust companies to your list. 

What is a linancial "panic"? 

Write a theme on "Confidence, the foundation of business." 

What states are included in your federal reserve district? Where is its 
federal reserve bank? 

For various reasons arising from the nature of agriculture, it 
has not been as easy for farmers to get credit at times when they 
Federal most need it as it is for other business men. In 

land banks order to give assistance to farmers, Congress passed 
the Federal Farm Loan Act, in 1916, creating a system of federal 
land banks, one in each of twelve districts into which the country 
is divided for the purpose, all managed by the Federal Farm Loan 
Board at Washington. In order to get credit through this 
system, the farmer must agree to use the borrowed money for the 
purchase or improvement of land, or for equipment. 

The provisions of the T'ederal Farm Loan Act afford an excellent illus- 
tration of the promotion of citizen cociperation by the help of government. 
'I'hc government does not lend money to the farmers; it merely provides 
the machinery l)y which the farmers may cooperate among themselves, 
and also secure the cooperation of investors in all parts of the country. 
As a rule the farmer can borrow money from the land bank only by being 
a member of a local "farm loan association." His dealings with the bank 
are through this association. His mcmbershi[) in the association gives 
him better standing and secures for him better terms than he could get if 
acting separately. The money the bank lends to the farmer comes from the 
farmers who belong to the association, and from investors in other parts 
of the country, who buy sharts of stock in the bank and bonds issued by 
it on the security of the farmers' land and equipment. The whole scheme 
is one of cooperation which would be impossible but for the legislation, 
financial support, and supervision of the government at Washington. 

As we have seen, money is a measure of value, and the govern- 
ment controls its manufacture in order that it may always con- 
Standards of form to certain standards. Of equal importance in 
weights and business are the measures of quantity and quality 

measures 11*1 1 i n /^ 

by which we buy and sell. Congress was given 

power to fix the standards of weights and measures. 



HOW GOVERNMENT SERVES ECONOMIC INTERESTS 357 

It is not enough that Congress should say that pounds and 
ounces, feet and inches, bushels and pecks, gallons and quarts, 
shall be our standards of weight and measure; there must also 
be a means of guaranteeing that a pound is always a pound, and 
that a gallon is always a gallon, in any shop or market where 




In the Bureau of Standards, Washington 

This large balance is so accurate in its work that it can tell the exact weight of the 
object tested to one one-hundred-millionth part. It is operated under a glass case 
lest the unnoticeable air currents of the room interfere with its precision. 



people buy and sell, or where things are produced for the people's 
use. So our government maintains a Bureau of Standards, where 
the standards of all kinds of measurements are determined and 
maintained. Its service "indirectly or directly affects every 
individual in the United States." 

"Even the air we breathe has been weighed" and its ingredients measured; 
''the volume of water delivered over Niagara Falls has been computed; the 



358 COMMUNITY CIVICS 

distance from here to the sun has been measured. We lead a measured exist- 
ence from the time we wake up in the morning and put on our clothes, the 
very threads of which have been tested, measured, and 'standardized,' to 
the time when we darken the electric lamp — the light, heat, and power of 
which have been measured" with the utmost accuracy .^ 

Every city has its inspector of weights and measures who goes 
about periodically with his standard weights and measures with 




In Tiiio Bureau oi' Siandards, Washington 
These are our national ''prototype" kilograms from which are derived the values 
of all weights used in this country. They were made by an international commission, 
from a combination of metals of especial durability. When it is necessary to handle 
them, it is done with the special Ufter, the faces of which are covered with a very 
soft plush. 

which he compares the weights and measures used in ordinary 
business. Those that do not conform to the standards, he con- 
demns. 

As our monetary system diflfers from those of other countries, 
so do our systems of measurement, to our great inconvenience 
The metric in international trade. Most civilized countries 
system ^gg ^}^g metric system, which is a decimal system 

and therefore much easier to deal with than our national system 
in which we use awkward fractions. There is a movement in 

1 Federal Executive Departments as Sources of Information, p. i8i. Education 
Bulletin, 1919, No. 74. 



HOW GOVERNMENT SERVES ECONOMIC INTERESTS 359 

favor of the adoption of the metric system in our country, to the 
end of estabhshing common international standards. 

An interesting illustrated description of the work of the bureau of stand- 
ards is contained in an article entitled "A Wonderland of Science," in the 
National Geographic Magazine, February, 191 5. 

See, also, the description of the bureau in The Federal Executive Depart- 
ments as Sources of Information, U.S. Bureau of Education Bulletin, 1919, 
No. 74, pp. 181-185. 

Visit the ofi&ce of the inspector of weights and measures. Get his latest 
published report, if available, and study it. 

Report on the metric system. (See encyclopedia.) 

One of the chief duties of the Treasury Department is to 
collect the customs duties levied by Congress on imported 
goods. The primary purpose of these is to provide Protective 
a revenue for the government (see pp. 429-430). duties 
They have been used, however, to protect home industries 
against the competition of foreign industries. This is accom- 
pHshed by making the tax upon the imports so high that the 
prices of these goods are raised above those of goods of home 
manufacture. Like the question of the national bank the 
question of protective duties has been hotly debated in political 
campaigns, many believing that duties on imports should be 
*'for revenue only," while others believe that American indus- 
tries should be protected by them. There is an intermediate 
opinion that protective duties are justified in the case of ''infant 
industries," i.e., industries that are struggling to establish them- 
selves; but that they are not justified in the case of industries 
already well established and able to compete on equal terms with 
similar foreign industries. 

The framing of a tariff law that is just to every one concerned is one of 
the most difficult things that Congress has to do. For example, American 
wool growers may want a duty levied on imported wool. Manufacturers of 
woolen goods, on the other hand, are likely to oppose such a duty, as it 
increases the price of the raw materials of their industry; while they want 
a duty levied on imported woolen fabrics. So every important industry 
seeks protection while opposing duties on materials which it has to buy. 



360 



COMMUNITY CIVICS 



All sorts of influence are brought to bear on Congress to secure tariff laws 
favorable to particular industries and to particular sections of the country. 
The difi&culty of making a tariff that helps one without injuring others is 
apparent. 




In the Bureau oe Standards, Washington 

The giant testing machine which can register with equal accuracy the power 

necessary to crush an egg shell or to tear apart the strongest steel girder. 



Those who oppose protective duties assert that they are an 
unwarranted interference by government with the natural opera- 
Arguments tion of economic laws: that they interfere with 
against pro- natural competition, keep prices up to the detriment 
tective duties of the consumer, and favor privileged classes of 
producers. On the other hand, it is argued that the protection 
of home industries means not only the protection of the capitalist 
producers, but also that of American labor against the competi- 
tion of foreign labor. Protection is also defended on the ground 
that it is to our national interest to become as completely self- 
sustaining as possible, and thus as fully independent of other 
nations in economic matters as Dossible. 



HOW GOVERNMENT SERVES ECONOMIC INTERESTS 361 

This question of protective duties is one upon which there 
is the greatest difference of opinion, and one which we cannot 
settle. The truth is that individuals and groups of individuals 
are inclined to tolerate government control as long as it seems 
to be to their personal advantage, and to resent it if it seems to 
be to their personal disadvantage. No great question of this 
sort can be justly settled on any other basis than that of the 
common interest. 

Is your father a "protectionist" or a "free trader"? What are his rea- 
sons? (Ask him.) 

Make a list of industries in your city that are protected by import duties. 
What are some articles upon which these industries would probably like to 
have no duty, or a low one? Why? 

If there is tariff legislation before Congress at the present time, is the 
resulting law likely to be strongly protective, or not? Report in class 
newspaper and magazine comment on the debates and proceedings of Con- 
gress with regard to such legislation. 

The concentration of capital in the hands of great corpora- 
tions, with the resulting monopolies in certain businesses, finally 
led to national legislation for the control of the Government 
latter. W^e have already read (page 274) of the control of 
creation of the Interstate Commerce Commission, ^°^p°^^ ^^^^ 
in 1887, for the regulation of transportation lines. In 1890 the 
Sherman Act, an "anti-trust law," was passed, making unlawful 
any "contract, combination ... or conspiracy in restraint of 
trade." Under this and other similar laws the United States 
Department of Justice has brought suit against some big cor- 
porations, or combinations of capital, on the charge of unduly 
interfering with the natural development of business competition, 
and in some cases has caused the dissolution, or breaking up, of 
such combinations, or "trusts." While such laws have un- 
questionably checked certain abuses in business, they are said, 
on the other hand, to have hampered in some respects the 
economic and efficient growth of big business enterprises, as in 
the case of railroad coroorations which have sometimes been 



362 



COMMUNITY CIVICS 



prevented from consolidating competing lines when to do so 
would apparently make for better transportation service to the 
country. (See page 276.) 

Do you know of cases where suit has been brought against "trusts" for 
violation of the Sherman Act? What can you find out about such cases? 
What are some of the well-known "trusts" in the United States? 




In the Bureau or Standards, Washington 

A balance so delicate that the expert must operate it from a distance 

lest the heat of his body should cause a disturbance. 

The three most recently created administrative departments 
of the national government are those of Agriculture, Commerce, 
and Labor, all three of which have for their purpose the advance- 
ment of the economic interests of the country. We shall en- 
counter some phases of the work of the first-named of these 
departments in the next chapter.^ 

^ For a detailed description of the highly interesting and important work of the 
Department of Agriculture see Dunn, Community Civics and Rural Life, chap, 
xii. Also see Readings. 



HOW GOVERNMENT SERVES ECONOMIC INTERESTS 363 

Long prior to the creation of the Department of Commerce 
the United States had its consular system, administered by the 
consular bureau in the Department of State. This The consular 
system is still maintained, with American consuls system 
stationed in all the important cities of the world, one of their 
principal duties being to investigate and report on trade and 
industrial conditions in the countries to which they are sent. 

The Department of Commerce was created, however, to 
foster the foreign and domestic commerce of our nation. It has 
trade commissioners and commercial agents in for- r^-^e Depart- 
eign countries, their duties being in some respects ment of Com- 
similar . to those of the consuls. Among the 
bureaus included in this department is the bureau of standards, 
to which reference has already been made; also the census 
bureau, the bureau of navigation, the bureau of fisheries, and the 
bureau of foreign and domestic commerce. 

The future of our commerce abroad, as at home, lies in so conducting its 
affairs that all parties thereto shall be gainers. "We go, let us say, into 
a strange land. We may look at its people in two ways. We may say, 
"What is the utmost we can extract from these people by greater knowledge, 
by clever scheming, perhaps by the use of direct or indirect compulsion?" 
On the other hand we may say, "How can we help these people and win 
a due regard from them, gladly given because we are helpful? What are 
their needs? How can we supply them?" In the latter case would fall 
the investment of our funds abroa»a, in railways, utilities, public and private 
services of all kinds, the development of their natural resources of whatever 
kind they might be and, through the spending there of our means and our 
efforts, the building up those peoples. Out of that would normally come 
the growth of business flowing to our shores.^ 

Report on the consular service of the United States (see Readings). 
Who is the Secretary of Commerce at the present time? 
What kinds of facts regarding the industries of your city are contained in 
the Census Reports of 1920? 

Report on the work of the bureau of fisheries (see Readings) . 

^The Federal Executive Departments, p. 178. Bureau of Education Bulletin, 
igiQ, No. 74. 



364 COMMUNITY CIVICS 

The Department of Labor, the most recently organized of the 
federal administrative departments, has for its purpose "to 
The Depart- foster, promote, and develop the welfare of the 
ment of wage earners of the United States, to improve their 

^ °^ working conditions, and to advance their oppor- 

tunities for profitable employment." It publishes a monthly 
magazine called the Monthly Labor Review, and a long list of 
bulletins and other publications bearing on a wide variety of 
subjects. 

The department includes a division of conciliation, which 
has, in its seven years of existence, dealt with more than 4,100 
Industrial industrial disputes, about 3,500 of which were suc- 
conciliation cessfully adjusted. In addition to this, several 
hundred threatened strikes were averted. It is the policy of 
the division not to interfere in any dispute unless one party 
or the other, or the public, asks for it. It does not have the 
power to force a settlement, but acts as a peacemaker to bring 
the contending parties together to settle their own difficulties. , 

The Department of Labor also contains the Children's Bureau, 
The children's whose duty is to "investigate and report upon all 
bureau matter pertaining to the welfare of children and 

child life among all classes of our people." 

One of the greatest losses of time, energy, and enthusiasm is the waste 
on the part of children blindly endeavoring to discover for themselves 
suitable places in our complicated industrial system; and the years spent 
in blind-alley and overcrowded occupations are responsible for much of the 
unrest prevalent to-day. 

In one investigation made in certain industrial cities it was 
found that: 

... a surprising number of children between 5 and 15 years of age — 
in all, nearly 5,000, or 8 per cent, of the children of this age group — had at 
some time during the year done factory work in their homes, either by hand 
or by machine. Nearly 100 different kinds 01 work were done by the chil- 
dren who were employed by many dijfferent factories. They carded snaps 
and shoe buttons; assembled various kinds of jewelry; strung beads; 



HOW GOVERNMENT SERVES ECONOMIC INTERESTS 365 

stripped, strung, and scaUoped lace; pasted or stitched chenille dots on 
veils; finished underwear; and performed many other simple operations 
incidental to manufacture. Children — a number of them under 14 — 
used machines in such work as cutting holes and pressing humps on snaps, 
and assembUng coUar buttons. . . . Over half the children were unable 
to earn as a maximum 5 cents per hour. . . . Many of the children worked 
not only after school hours but also in the evenings; some worked exclusively 




War Risk Insurance Building 

at night. A small number of children who were regularly employed during 
the day in factories or stores also worked ^t home every night. . . . 

The system of home work results in making a factory of the home — a 
condition which operates against a normal environment for growing chil- 
dren.i 

During the war an Employment Service was developed for the 
purpose of directing an abundant supply of labor Employment 
to the points in industry where it was most needed; 
and at the conclusion of the war it performed great service in 

1 Report of the Secretary of Labor for the year ending June 30, 1920, pp. 181, 182. 



366 COMMUNITY CIVICS 

finding work for discharged soldiers and sailors. One division 
of the Employment Service is the junior section, for the guidance 
of boys and girls from. 16 to 21 years of age who are seeking 
employment. At the present time the service has been greatly 
curtailed owing to a lack of appropriations from Congress. 

The Bureau of Immigration and the Bureau of Naturalization 
are parts of the Department of Labor. The former administers 
Bureau of ^^^ ^^^^ regulating immigration, one purpose being 
Immigration to protect American wage earners against competi- 
tion of foreign wage earners whose standards of Hving are lower 
than those in America. The Bureau of Naturalization supervises 
the admission of ahensinto American citizenship (see page 58). 

Though this chapter is long, it has but touched upon a few 
of the imuortant ways in which our national government serves 
What this ^^^ economic interests. Some others have been 
chapter noted in earlier chapters (XIII and XV), and still 

teac es others will be mentioned later. From the study of 

the present chapter, however, two or three things should stand 
out. One is the growth of our great national service organization 
to meet the changing conditions of our social and economic life; 
an organization that performs services and affects our lives in a 
multitude of ways not dreamed of when the Constitution was 
adopted. A second thing is that, with all its extended activity, 
our national government has in the main adhered to the prin- 
ciple of doing things for us only when we cannot well do them for 
ourselves, or when state control is inadequate. In the third 
place, we have had illustration of the fact that, when the govern- 
ment imdertakes any new kind of control over business enterprise 
or economic conditions, it is almost certain to meet with opposi- 
tion from those who feel that their personal interests are inter- 
fered with; and that any control over such matters that the 
government attempts is finally accepted by the people only when 
it is clearly for the common interest, and not for that of a privi- 
leged group alone. 



HOW GOVERNMENT SERVES ECONOMIC INTERESTS 367 

Write (as a class) to the Department of Labor for a sample copy of the 
Monthly Labor Review (or find it in your public library) and make a 
summary of the subjects treated in it. Make a detailed report on some one 
article in it that especially interests you. 

Report on the work of the children's bureau (see Readings). 

Report on the work of the Department of Agriculture (see Readings). 

Report any action that may have been taken by Congress recently for 
the further regulation of immigration. 

Do you know of any complaints, from any source, that our national 
government has unduly interfered with private business interests? If 
so, in what specific instances? What arguments are put forward, by those 
who support it, in defense of this alleged interference? 

READINGS 

Lessons in Community and National Life: 

Series A: Lesson i, Some Fundamental Aspects of Social Control. 
Lesson q, Social Control. 

Lesson 12, History of the Federal Departments. 
Lesson 13, The United States Food Administration. 
. Lesson 20, Private Control of Industry. 
Lesson 22, The Commercial Bank and Modern Business. 
Lesson 23, The Services of Money. 
Lesson 29, The War Labor Administration. 
Series B: Lesson 15, Price Control of Wheat. 

Lesson 21, National Standards and the Bureau of Standards. 
Lesson 30, Employment Agencies. 
Series C: Lesson 12, Patents and Inventions. 

Lesson 14, The United States Fuel Administration. 
Lesson 21, Before Coins Were Made. 
Lesson 22, The Minting of Coins. 
Lesson 23, Paper Money., 

Lesson 24, Money in the Community and the Home. 
Federal Executive Departments as Sources of Information, U.S. Bureau of Education 

Bulletin, 1919, No. 74. 
Publications of the Department of Commerce relating to topics in this chapter. 
The Monthly Labor Review and other publications of the Department of Labor 

. relating to topics in this chapter. 
Dunn, Community Civics and Rural Life, chap, xii, "Government as a Means of 

Cooperation in Agriculture." 
Tufts, The Real Business of Living, pp. 59-62, 125-128, 182-184 (on the common 
law); pp. 273-275 (on the control of trusts). 



CHAPTER XX 

OUR LAND AND ITS RESOURCES 

"We have nothing precious that does not represent struggle. 
We have nothing of lasting value that does not represent 
determination. We have nothing admirable that does not 
represent self-sacrifice. We have no philosophy except the 
philosophy of confidence, of optimism and faith in the right- 
eousness of the contest we make against nature. We are to 
conquer this land in that spirit." — Franklin K. Lane. 

The land is the source of all our wealth ; of the necessities 
and comforts of life ; of the means of living. This wealth is 
The land the extracted from the land only by the application of 
source of labor. Land and labor are the two primary factors 

wealth -j^ ^YiQ production of wealth. Without capital, 

however, — tools and machinery, — to aid him in the process, 
man would have remained in a state of savagery. But capital 
itself is the result of applying labor to the land and its resources, 
— plus saving. The savage was on the road to civilization only 
when he began to store up food supplies for times of scarcity, 
and to devote his leisure time to the improvement of his tools 
and weapons. With these he had a powerful ally in his struggle 
for the conquest of nature, which has been, in the long run, the 
chief feature of civilization. In an earlier chapter we have 
considered the partnership of labor and capital in this enter- 
prise. In the present chapter we shall consider our land and 
its resources, and some of the things that our government is 
doing to help us in their control. 

At the close of the Revolutionary War, the territory of the 
United States extended west as far as the Mississippi River. 

368 



OUR LAND AND ITS RESOURCES 369 




Courtesy American Magazine oj Art 



Lewis and Clark 

Explorers oe the Great Northwest 

A statue at the University of Oregon 



370 COMMUNITY CIVICS 

That part of the territory which lay west of the Allegheny 
Mountains had been claimed by seven of the thirteen states that 
The public formed the Union ; but soon after the war they 
lands ceded these western possessions to the United 

States, having received a promise from Congress that these 
lands, which were largely unoccupied at the time, should be 
disposed of "/or the common benefit of the United States. ^^ They 
thus became public lands ; that is, they belonged to the people 
of the nation as a whole. The common interest in these public 
lands was one of the chief influences that kept the thirteen 
states united under one government during the troubled times 
between the close of the Revolution and the adoption of the 
Constitution in 1789. As time went on, they were increased 
by the acquisition of new territory.^ To turn this great domain 
with all its resources to the fullest service of the nation has been 
one of the greatest problems with which our government has 
had to deal. 

From maps in school histories study the claims of the United States to 
the lands west of the Alleghenies. 

WTiat is the Ordinance of 1787? 

What are the circumstances connected with each of our territorial 
acquisitions (see footnote, below) ? 

From whom did the colonists acquire the right to the land in the original 
13 colonies? 

When settlers began to occupy the lands west of the Alle- 
ghenies, many of them laid claim to tracts without much regard 
The survey ^^^ ^^^ claims of Others. Boundary lines were 
of the public indefinite. Where surveys were made they were 
often inaccurate. Disputes arose that frequently 
foimd their way into the courts and dragged on for many years. 
The first thing necessary to put an end to this confusion and to 

1 Louisiana Territory was acquired in 1803, Oregon in 1805, Florida in 181 2 and 
1819, Texas in 1845, California and New Mexico in 1846-48, the Gadsden Purchase 
in 1853, Alaska in 1867. 



OUR LAND AND ITS RESOURCES 371 

bring the land under control was an accurate survey, and this 
was begun in Thomas Jefferson's administration/ ^ 

This government survey has not yet been completed. It is 
being carried on by the General Land Office of the Department 
of the Interior. In 1917 more than 10,000,000 acres, or nearly 
16,000 square miles, were surveyed. In that year there still 
remained unsurveyed more than 900,000 square miles of public 
land, 590,000 of which were in Alaska and 320,000 in the United 
States proper. 

Is your state a "public land" state? 

If so, are there any "public lands" left in your state? If so, locate them. 

Study a map showing the lines of the survey in your state. {A description 
of the method of the survey will be found in a good encyclopedia, or in 
Dunn, Community Civics and Rural Life, pp. 194-196.) 

If your state is not a "public land" state, who made the survey (state 
government, local government, private citizens)? 

Are city lots in your city located with reference to the lines of the survey 
here referred to? (Inquire at home, or of real estate dealers, or at office 
of register of deeds in court house.) 

In the method by which the government sought to secure the 
development of the public lands we have a striking illustration 
of its" policy to depend as fully as possible upon PubUc land 
private initiative and enterprise (see page 345). It T^^^^y 
was the possession of the vast public lands and the method 
adopted of disposing of them that, more than anything else, 
made our country a veritable ''land of opportunity." The 
policy adopted was to turn the land over, as rapidly as possible, 
to citizens who would make use of it. Various plans for bring- 
ing this about were tried in the early part of our history, until, 
in 1862, Congress passed the Homestead Act, which, with slight 
modifications, is in effect to-day. (See p. 113.) 

The purpose of the government has been to encourage actual settlement in 
order to secure the development of the nation's resources, and for this 
pur'pose to allow each settler enough land to enable him to support a family 
in comfort. It was decided that 160 acres of good farm land was enough. 



372 COMMUNITY CIVICS 

The policy of disposing of the pubKc lands to individuals 
has of course "been of great benefit to the latter; but we should 
not lose sight of the fact that the national well-being is the 
first consideration. As the Commissioner of the General Land 
Office said in a recent report (1916), "Every acre of public 
land disposed of under this line of legislation is an investment, 
the profits to be found in the general development of the welfare 
of the nation at large. " 




Courtesy American Magazine of Art 
"Surveying the Land" 
After a painting by Frank D. Miller 

Do you know any one who has ever taken up a "homestead claim"? If 
so, learn how it was done. 

If possible, get a description of a "land lottery" and a "land rush" in 
newly opened public lands. 

It has been no simple matter to administer our public lands, 
and mistakes have been made. Sometimes the interests of 
Safecuardinff individuals have not been sufiiciently safeguarded, 
the interests Many settlers have suffered serious loss, and many 
o in ivi ua s pj-Qj^^jsing communities have failed, through the 
taking of homesteads in regions of little rainfall, as in western 
Kansas and Nebraska. The government now seeks to protect 
homesteaders against such errors by distinguishing carefully 
between lands suitable for ordinary agriculture and those suit- 
able only for dry-farming and stock-raising, by informing pros- 
pective settlers in regard to the facts, and by allowing larger 



OUR LAND AND ITS RESOURCES 373 

entries in lands of the latter classes. Another mistake was 
made in allowing many of the first claimants to stock-raising 
lands so to locate their claims as to acquire the exclusive use 
of the only available water supply for miles around, thus making 
useless other large tracts. 'This might have been avoided by 
a little foresight. 

On the other hand, the land laws have sometimes been 
abused. Large quantities of public land have fallen into the 
hands of speculators whose purpose is not to de- Abuse of 
velop its resources, but to make a profit from the ^^^^ ^^^^ 
increased value of the land due to the efforts of others (see page 
16). Immense areas of land have thus been withheld from 
production, or have been made to produce to a limited extent 
only, to the great loss of the nation. 

In the days of transcontinental railroad building, large tracts 
of land were given to railroad companies by the government, 
with the expectation that they would dispose of it Railroad 
at reasonable prices to settlers attracted by the ^^^^^ 
new transportation facilities, and would use the proceeds in 
railway development. In fact, however, large quantities of 
this land have been held in an unproductive state for speculative 
purposes. 

An illustration of this is the case of the Oregon and California Railroad 
land grant, made by Congress in 1869 and 1870, and comprising more than 
4,200,000 acres, most of which bore a heavy growth of valuable timber. 
"This railroad grant . . . contained a special provision to the effect that 
the railroad company should sell the land it received to actual settlers only, 
in quantities not greater than one-quarter section to one purchaser and at a 
price not exceeding $2.50 an acre. By this precaution it was intended that 
in aiding the construction of the railroad an immediate impetus should 
also be given to the settlement and development of the country through 
which the road was to be constructed." 

After selHng some of the lands according to the terms of the agreement, 
the railroad company ceased to live up to these terms and sold large bodies 
of the land to lumber interests, thus putting a stop to the development of 
the region in the way intended by the government. The government 



374 ' COMMUNITY CIVICS 

brought action against the railroad company, the outcome of which is that 
the government has bought back from the company at $2.50 an acre all of the 
lands of the grant which remained unsold, amounting to about 2,300,000 
acres and valued at from $30,000,000 to $50,000,000. 

These lands are being classified "in a,ccordance with their chief value, 
either in power-site lands, timber lands, or agricultural lands," and are to be 
disposed of accordingly. The timber will be sold separately from the land, 
and the land will then be opened to homestead entry. 

By this arrangement the railroad company gets for the land all that 
it was entitled to under the terms of the original grant. In addition, 
provision is made for the payment to the counties in which the land- lies 
of the taxes which the railroad company has not paid. As the lands are 
sold, the proceeds are to be divided between the state and the United States, 
the state receiving 50 per cent, 40 per cent being paid into the general 
reclamation fund of the United States (see page 378), and 10 per cent 
into the general funds of the United States Treasury. 

(From the Report of the Commissioner of the General Land Office, 191 6, 
pp. 46-49.) 

Something like 133,000,000 acres of our public lands have 
from time to time been turned over to the states, the proceeds 

Lands for ^° ^^ ^^^*^ ^^^ ^^^ promotion of public education, 
public for the construction of roads, and for other pur- 

^*^°°^ poses (see Chapters X and XV). In some 

cases these lands have not been used altogether for the purposes 
for which they were granted. 

The responsibility for defects in our methods of administer- 
ing the public lands rests in part upon our governmental repre- 
Responsibility sentatives, who have not always dealt wisely with 
for land the extremely difficult problem. But it rests also 

^^^ ^ upon each individual citizen. There are those 

who deliberately seek to defeat the purpose of the laws. There 
is one division of the General Land Office in Washington known 
as the Contest Division. In the year 191 6 more than 12,000 
cases of alleged fraud were acted upon by this Division, and nearly 
12,000 other cases awaited action at the end of the year! But the 
responsibility comes much "closer home than this. Many of us 
who would not think of violating the law have failed to appre- 



OUR LAND AND ITS RESOURCES 



375 



date the value of the gifts that nature has given us, and have 
apparently been "too busy" to inform ourselves as to whether 
or not our public lands have been administered solely for the 
purpose to which Congress devoted them just after the Revo- 
lution (see page 370). This, like every other matter of com- 
munity interest, requires team work. 





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Fraudulent Land Claims 

The land shown in the illustrations was claimed under the Homestead Act as 

agricultural land. It bore many thousands of dollars worth of valuable timber. 

Have public lands been given to railroads in your state? If so, how 
were they used? 

Have the schools of your state derived any benefits from the public lands? 
If so, how? 

As long as we had a great abundance of unoccupied land it 
would perhaps have been uneconomic to increase the produc- 
tion of that which was occupied by the costly Wastefulness 
methods of agriculture used in Belgium, Germany, of early 
and other thickly settled countries. But our ^^^^^^^ 
methods of farming have not only failed to get from the soil all 



376 COMMUNITY CIVICS 

that it is capable of producing, they have also robbed it of 

fertility without restoring to it what is taken from it. Thus 

the loss caused by wasteful methods is passed on to future 

generations. To continue such methods with our growing 

population and with the increasing demand for food products 

is thriftless in the extreme. 

In 1839 Congress made its first appropriation of $1,000 to be spent in 
gathering information about agricultural matters. In 19 18 it appropriated 
"W rk of ^^^ enormous sum of $37,000,000 for the development of the 

Department resources of the soil ! This money is expended by the Depart- 
of Agri- ment of Agriculture for this purpose. In 1862 Congress made 

culture gjf|-g Qf public lands to the several states, the proceeds from 

which were to be used for the establishment and support of agricultural col- 
leges. In 1887 it made appropriations for the establishment of agricultural 
experiment stations to be conducted cooperatively by the Department of Agri- 
culture and the state governments. In 19 14 a law was passed (the Smith- 
Lever Act) under which annual appropriations are made for agricultural 
extension work to be conducted by the state agricultural colleges with the 
cooperation of the Department of Agriculture. The work that national 
and state governments are doing to develop the resources of the soil is not 
only very interesting to read about, but it affords a fine example of govern- 
mental activity in encouraging individual initiative and enterprise, and in 
securing cooperation among the agricultural population and between it 
and other business interests of the nation. (See Dunn's Community Civics 
and Rural Life, Chapter XII.) 

Even in our cities there is a great deal of land lying idle that 
might be made productive of food. It was largely from vacant 
Idle land lots and back yards that the School Garden Army 
in cities obtained its remarkable results during the war. At 

the present time the utilization of such waste spaces might do 
much to reduce the cost of living for many in our cities ; and 
"everyone who creates or cultivates a garden helps, and helps 
greatly, to solve the problem of the feeding of the nations." ^ 

Make a report on the United States Department of Agriculture (See 
Readings at end of chapter) . 

1 President Wilson in his appeal to citizens at the beginning of the war. 



OUR LAND AND ITS RESOURCES 



377 



Is there an agricultural college in your state ? If so, where is it ? Report 
on its work (send for its catalogue and other publications). 

Is there an agricultural experiment station in your state? Where? 
Send for its recent reports. 

Report on the operation of the Smith-Lever Act in your state. 

Report on the use of vacant lots and back yards in your city for food 
production — extent and possibilities. 




Desert Land 
Covered with sagebrush; capable of irrigation. U.S. Reclamation Service 

Much of our public land has been non-productive solely 
because of a lack of moisture. In 1902 a law known as the 
Reclamation Act was passed by Congress, providing Reclamation 
that the proceeds from the sale of public lands in of arid 
states containing arid regions,^ except such as were 
already devoted to educational and other pubhc purposes, 

1 The states to which this law appUes are Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, 
Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, 
Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming. See map. 



378 COMMUNITY CIVICS 

should be used for the construction and maintenance of irriga- 
tion works. This reclamation work is in charge of the Recla- 
mation Service of the Department of the Interior, whose engi- 
neers have built great dams and reservoirs from which the water 
has been led by canals and ditches into the desert. By 191 6 
more than 1,000,000 acres had been irrigated under this act, 
the crop value in that year reaching $35,000,000. The re- 
claimed land is disposed of to actual settlers in accordance with 
the homestead laws (see page 371), each homesteader repaying 
the government in annual installments the cost of reclaiming 
the land he occupies. The fund so created is used by the 
government for further reclamation projects. The principal 
irrigation projects of the Jileclamation Service are shown on 
the accompanying map. 

The Yuma project in Arizona opened a new Valley of the Nile where four 
crops of alfalfa are now raised on what once were arid lands. The streets 
of Yuma and Somerton are crowded with the automobiles of farmers, 
eni:iched by thousands of acres of splendid long-staple cotton, alfalfa, corn, 
and feterita. Another irrigated valley in Arizona, that of the Salt River, has 
few superiors in the world and has come in three years into great prosperity. 
Arizona planted to cotton last year 02,000 acres. Its crop was 96 per cent 
perfect, the best record in the United States.^ 

There are probably 80,000,000 acres of swamp lands in the 

United States which could be made productive by drainage. 

The national government has at various times 
Swamp lands , , , , 

granted to the states swamp lands aggregating 
60,000,000 acres, with the expectation that the states would 
reclaim them. The states have, however, done very little to 
fullill the expectation. Farmers themselves could reclaim much 
of this land at comparatively small cost, greatly increasing their 
(uvn profit and the wealth of the country. 

Report on llic work of (lie Reclamation Service of the Department of 
the Interior (sec Readings). 

* Arthur O. I.iltlo, " IH-volopiivg the Estate," Atlantic Monthly, March, loio. 



OUR LAND AND ITS RESOURCES 



379 



If you live in one of the states to which the Reclamation Act applies, 
report on what has been accomplished by it in your state. 

Select one of the irrigation projects shown on the map (page 380) and 
make a report on it. 

What irrigation work has been done in your state (if any) by state or 
private enterprises? 




Oats Harvested in Reclaimed Desert Land, Wyoming 

U.S. Reclamation Service 



Report the story of the reclamation of Utah by the Mormons. 
Report on any important swamp reclamation that may have occurred, 
or that might be possible, in your state. 

Our unused water resources are very great. Niagara Falls 
have been harnessed for industrial uses, and with only a small 
part of their power in use they Hght the streets conservation 
and houses, run the street cars, and turn the of water 
wheels of industry in Buffalo and Toronto and the P®^®' 
neighboring region. But so far we are making use of less than 



38o 



COMMUNITY CIVICS 



lo per cent of the power easily available from our streams. 
"The water now flowing idly from our hills to the sea could turn 
every factory wheel and every electric generator, operate our 
railroads, and still leave much energy to spare for new develop- 







Principal Reclamation Service Projects in the Western States 

ments. " ^ Our nation has allowed many of the best water 
power sites of the country to fall into the hands of private 
speculators who hold them undeveloped, as in the case of farm 
lands, forests, and other resources. 

1 Arthur D. Little, "Developing the Estate," Atlantic Monthly, March, 1919, 
p. 388. 



OUR LAND AND ITS RESOURCES 



381 



Floods are not only immensely destructive of property, 
(see p. 233), but they carry to the sea water that might be used 
for irrigation and for industry. Reservoirs, such conservation 
as are built for irrigating projects, regulate the of flood 
flow of water in streams and prevent floods. ^* ®^ 
In New England and New York reservoirs have been built 




Roosevelt Dam — Salt River Project 
U. S. Reclamation Service 

for this very purpose, and probably 10 per cent of the flood 
waters that originate in these states is saved in this way and 
turned to industrial uses. Similar conservation of flood waters 
occurs in Minnesota, but it is estimated that for the country 
as a whole not more than one per cent of the flood waters is 
saved. ^ There are areas in which the reservoir system is im- 
1 "Conservation of Water Resources," Water Supply Paper 234, U.S. Geological 
Survey, 1919- 



382 



COMMUNITY CIVICS 



practicable, as in the lower Mississippi Valley. Here all that 
can be done is to protect the adjacent land by means of levees 
while controlling the floods farther up the valley. 

Larger use of water power would conserve another valuable 
resource — coal. Of this fuel we have vast resources — "in 



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Harnessing the Mississippi 
Power House at Keokuk, Iowa 



West Virginia alone more than Great Britain and Germany 
combined." But the supply is not inexhaustible, and we are 
•p^^l mining it and using it in an extravagant manner, 

resources 'pj^g Jqss here is not merely of heat and power and 
light, but of many valuable by-products of coal, including dyes, 
ammonia, vaseline, and many others. 

To what extent is water power used in industry in your city and state? 
Is its use increasing? What and where are its sources? Are there any 
projects for its development? 

To what extent are water power sites in your vicinity or state owned by 



OUR LAND AND ITS RESOURCES 



383 



private parties? To what extent are they controlled by city, state, or 
national government ? 

Debate the question : All water power sites should be owned and con- 
trolled by the government. 

Report on the loss from periodic floods in your vicinity or state. What 
steps are taken to prevent it? 

Report on the control of floods in the Mississippi River. 













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Wallace, Idaho 
Destroyed by Forest Fire 

In 1 89 1 Congress authorized the President to establish 
"forest reserves," the first to be created being the "Yellowstone 
Park Timberland Reserve." From time to time The forest 
new reserves were established, and in 1907 the reserves 
name was changed to "National Forests." In 191 7, more 
than 176,000,000 acres were included within the National Forest 
boundaries. They are administered by the Forest Service 
of the Department of Agriculture, at the head of which is 
the Chief Forester. 



384 COMMUNITY CIVICS 

The purpose of the Forest Service is to secure the use of the 
forests "in such a way that they will yield all their resources 
Work of ^° ^^^ fullest extent without exhausting them, for 

the Forest the benefit primarily of the home builder. The 
ervice controUing policy is serving the public while con- 

serving the forests." ^ Timber is cut and sold, but always 
with a view to developing future growth. The forests are 
protected against fire. Burned-over areas are reforested by 
planting. Water power sites are protected. The freest pos- 
sible use of forest pasture land is permitted, but under such 
regulations as to prevent injury to the forests and the denudation 
of the land by overgrazing. 

Waste of ^^^ ^^^ timber resources are not all in the 

timber National Forests, and outside of them the waste 

resources continues to an appalling extent. 

With a total annual cut of 40,000,000,000 feet, board-measure, of mer- 
chantable lumber, another 70,000,000,000 feet are wasted in the field and 
at the mill. In the yellow-pine belt the values in rosin, turpentine, ethyl 
alcohol, pine oil, tar, charcoal, and paper stock lost in the waste are three 
or four times the value of the lumber produced. Enough yellow-pine 
pulp-wood is consumed in burners, or left to rot, to make double the total 
tonnage of paper produced in the United .States. 

But the wastes in lumbering, colossal though they are in absolute amount 
are trivial compared to the losses which our estate has suffered, and still 
endures, from forest fires. The French properly regard as a national calam- 
ity the destruction of perhaps a thousand square miles of their fine forests 
by German shells. And yet the photographs that they show of this wreck 
and utter demolition may be reproduced indefinitely on 10,000,000 acres of 
our forest lands swept each year by equally devastating fire for which our 
own people are responsible. You have doubtless already forgotten that 
forest fire which last autumn, in Minnesota, burned over an area half as 
large again as Massachusetts, destro^ang more than twenty-five towns, kill- 
ing 400 people, and leaving 13,000 homeless. 2 

1 "The Status of Forestry in the United States," Forest Service Circular 167, 
1909, p. 5. 

2 "Developing the Estate," Atlantic Monthly, March, 1919, pp. 384-385. 



OUR LAND AND ITS RESOURCES 385 

The nation has been defrauded of a great deal of wealth in 
timber by speculators who have taken advantage of the home- 
stead laws. 

Single tracts of 160 acres often have a value for the timber alone, of 
$20,000. . . . Lands acquired . . . under the guise of the homestead law 
are to-day in the hands of lumber companies who promptly purchased them 
from the settlers as soon as the title passed, and are either reserving them 
for later cutting or are holding the land itself after cutting for from $40 
to $60 an acre, or even more — a speculative process which effectively pre- 
vents the possibility of men of small means acquiring and establishing 
homes there.^ 

To prevent this sort of- thing, the government now sells the 
timber and the land separately, withholding from agricultural 
entry heavily timbered land until the timber is cut off. 

Besides the National Forests, there are more than 4,000,000 
acres of state forests. Twenty-four states have 
forestry departments, sometimes under a state 
board or a commission, sometimes under the control of a single 
state forester. 

Investigate and report on the work of the Forest Service of the United 
States Department of Agriculture (see Readings). 

Locate and describe any state forests that may exist in your state. 

Write a theme on the life of a forest ranger. 

Report on the National Park Service of the Department of the Interior 
(see Readings). Locate some of the more important National Parks on the 
map. Write to the National Park Service, Department of the Interior, and 
to the National Parks Association, Washington, for literature descriptive 
of our National Parks. 

Report on the purposes and methods of forestry. Is forestry taught 
in your state agricultural college or state university? 

No country in the world is more richly endowed with mineral 
resources than the United States; but this endowment is by 
no means inexhaustible, although we have been Mineral 
inclined to treat it as if it were. We have been as resources 
wasteful of it as we have been of the soil ; and mineral deposits 

1 "The National Forests and the Farmer," in Year Book, Department of Agri- 
culture, 19 14, p. 70. 



386 



COMMUNITY CIVICS 



once exhausted cannot be replaced, while the fertility of^ the soil 
can be restored, and forests replanted. 

Mineral lands, like farming and timber lands, have been 
disposed of to individuals and groups of individuals for a mere 
Conservation song, and have then been exploited for private 
movement profit, often in the most wasteful manner. For 
many years patriotic citizens have been calling attention to 




Courtesy American Magazine of Art 
"The Prospector" 
After a painting by Allen True 

this waste, and serious efforts have been made to secure legis- 
lation for the conservation of these resources, but with only 
partial success. In the last few years large areas of public 
land containing coal and other minerals have been withdrawn 
from sale by the government until careful surveys of their 
contents could be made and legislation secured to control 
more effectively their disposal or use. One plan is to lease such 
lands, instead of selling them, to persons who would develop 
their resources. A royalty of a few cents a ton paid by operators 
of coal mines to the government would bring enormous revenue 
tt) the nation. 



OUR LAND AND ITS RESOURCES 387 

It is said that for every ton of anthracite coal mined, a ton or 

^more is wasted through uneconomic methods of mining. A 

similar waste occurs in the mining of other minerals. 

. Waste of fuel 

There is also great loss through imperfect methods 

of reducing metals from their ores. In the case of coal, there 
is enormous waste in factories and homes through imperfect 
combustion. ''It is estimated that 20,000,000 tons of coal go 
up the chimneys in smoke each year." This is in large part 
unnecessary. During the recent war we had our attention 
called sharply to the waste of fuel by unnecessary illumination 
of our streets, dwellings and business places. Here is one point 
where each of us can help to conserve our national fuel supply 
— by seeing that gas and electric lights are not left burning 
when not needed. 

The Department of the Interior of the United States govern- 
ment is performing a great service, so far as existing laws permit, 
for the conservation of our mineral resources. The ggrvjce of the 
Land Office, in this Department, has the disposal Department 
of public mineral lands as well as of public farm ° ® ° ®"**^ 
lands. The Geological Survey is engaged in examining and 
mapping mineral resources of all kinds, classifying the public 
lands with respect to their mineral contents, placing a value 
upon them, and making various kinds of studies of these re- 
sources. The Bureau of Mines studies "problems in the mining 
industry in order that it may be carried on with greater efficiency, 
profit to industry and society, and under the best conditions 
for the safety and health of the miner. . . . Much of the work 
of the bureau is directed toward securing greater economy 
and efficiency in the use of fuels. ..." During the past year 
(1920) the Department of the Interior has been conducting 
a survey of the region between Boston and Washington to 
determine the practicability of electrifying the industries and 
railroads of this region by utilizing the water power available, 
and thus effecting a great saving in fuel, materials, and labor. 



388 



COMMUNITY CIVICS 



While this region is a very small part of the United States, it 
produces nearly half of the manufactured products of the 
country. '' It is properly termed the finishing shop of American 
industry." ^ 



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■1 



The Coal Miner 

The great majority of persons who invest their savings . . . are unconscious of 
the men who labor to make their investment profitable. 

"It is not a figure of speech to say that every American has 
it in his heart that he is in a small sense a discoverer ; that he 
Sharing in ^^ joining in the revelation to the world of some- 
making a new thing that it was not before aware of and of which 
^°' it may some day make use. Men work for what 

they think worth while, and if they find their joy in proving 
that land has coal, or will raise wheat, or that a refractory ore 
may be reduced at a practicable cost, and tell about it proudly, 
they may be serving themselves, but they are also serving the 
1 Report of the Secretary of the Interior for 1920, pp. 4, 5. 



OUR LAND AND ITS RESOURCES 389 

world. The clerk in the store or the mechanic in a mill may not 
consciously engage in any enterprise which makes this appeal, 
but when he learns that the Government of which he is a part 
has within the year opened a town on the shores of the North 
Pacific which now has nearly 3000 inhabitants, and has driven 
a railroad nearly 40 miles inland toward the Arctic Circle on 
its way to the coal fields of the Matanuska and the gold fields 
of Tanana, he has a feeling that he, too, is participating in the 
making of this new world." ^ 

Make class reports on the topics suggested in the references to Lessons 
in Community and National Life in the Readings at the end of the chapter. 

Watch the newspapers and magazines for new development and use of 
resources. 

Follow current legislation in Congress with reference to the public lands 
and the conservation of natural resources. 

Investigate and report on the work of your state government for the 
conservation of natural resources (soil, forests, minerals, fish and game, water 
power). 

READINGS 

Dunn, Community Civics and Rural Life, chaps, xiv, xv (contains some additional 

material). 
Lessons in Communtty and National Life: - 

Series A : Lesson 4, What Nature Has Done for a Typical City. 
Lesson 13, The United States Food Administration. 
Lesson 14, Substitute Foods. 
Series B : Lesson 5, Saving the Soil. 

Lesson 6, Making Dyes from Coal Tar. 
Lesson 9, How Men Made Heat to Work. 
Lesson 13, The Department of the Interior. 
Series C : Lesson 4, Petroleum and Its Uses. 

Lesson s, Conservation as Exemplified by Irrigation Projects. 
Lesson 6, Checking Waste in the Production and Use of Coal. 
Lesson 10, Iron and Steel. 

Lesson 14, The United States Fuel Administration. 
Lesson 16, The Commercial Economy Board of the Council of National 
Defense. 
Other Government Publications: 

Proceedings of a Conference of Governors at the White House, 1908 (Government 
Printing Ofl5ce). 

^ Report of the Secretary ot the Interior, 1915, pp. 2, 3. 



390 COMMUNITY CIVICS 

Report of the National Conservation Commission, 1909 (Senate Document 676, 

60th Congress. Government Printing OflSce.) 
Annual Reports of the Secretary of the Interior. (That for 1915, pp. 1-30, con- 
tains an interesting review of our natural resources and their use; also pp. 151- 

209, a comprehensive and interesting discussion of our mineral resources and 

tljeir development.) 
Publications of the Geological Survey, the Bureau of Mines, the Reclamation 

Service, the General Land Office, the National Park Service — all in the Depart- 
ment of the Interior. 
PubUcations of the Bureau of Fisheries, Department of Commerce. 
PubHcations of the Forestry Service, Department of Agriculture. 
Publications of the Department of Agriculture. Such as. 

Farmers' Bulletin 340, Declaration of Governors for conservation. 

Year Book, 1914, 65-88, The National Forests and the Farmer. 

Year Book, 1916, 301-310, Resources of Potash. 

Year Book, 1916, 177-198, Agriculture and Reclamation Projects. 

Year Book, 1916, 107-134, Farms, Forests, and Erosion. 

Year Book, 1915, 147-154, Unprofitable Acres. 
Many books and articles have been written on the subject of conservation. Con- 
sult your public library. A few good titles are : 

Van Hise, C. R., The Conservation of Natural Resources in the United States. 

Pinchot, Gifford, TheFight for Conservation. 

Cronan, R., Our Wasteful Nation. 

Beard, Chas. A., American Government and Politics, 401-416. 

American Year Book. 



CHAPTER XXI 

PROPERTY RIGHTS 

When a thief or vandal takes or destroys another person's 
property, the loss of the property is not the worst thing that 
happens, but the attack upon property rights. ^^^ gacred- 
The right to security in one's possessions is among ness of prop- 
the most saclred rights of a free people, being ^^^^^ "^ 
classed with the right to life, the right of free speech, the right 
of petition, the right to freedom of religion.* It is by securing 
these rights that the law makes us free. The sacred right to 
property is as truly violated by one who steals a nickel as by one 
who robs a bank of a thousand dollars, by one who ruins our 
flower bed as well as by one who burns our house. The amount 
has nothing to do with it. The tax which the English govern- 
ment imposed on tea imported by the American colonists was 
not a heavy tax, but the colonists objected because it was 
imposed without their consent. 

People have not always and everywhere enjoyed full right to 
individual ownership of property. Land occupied by American 
Indians, for example, was the property of the clan, development 
or tribe, and not of individuals. Even the game of property 
that an Indian hunter killed belonged to the group "^ *^ 
and not to him alone. The same was true of the maize and 
other crops that agricultural Indians raised ; they were stored 
in a common storehouse and distributed among the members 
of the clan according to needs. This constitutes what is known 
as communal ownership — ownership in common. 

There are people to-day, known as communists, who believe that com- 
munal ownership is feasible and desirable. Various experiments in this 

391 



392 - COMMUNITY CIVICS 

direction have been tried in the United States and other civilized countries, 
but few of them have met with any high degree of success. 

Among the American Indians, however, a certain amount of 
personal property came into being. The hunter owned his 
bow and spear — that is, his weapons : these could not well be 
owned in common. So, also, the woman acquired personal owner- 
ship of household utensils, and even of the rude dwelling itself, 
of which she was undisputed mistress. Thus we have the 
beginnings of individual ownership of personal property. 

A similar development of property rights occurred among our 
European ancestors. Land in England, for example, was once 
p . . held communally. When England was conquered 

ownership by foreign kings, these took possession of the land 
° *° in their own name, and proceeded to distribute large 

shares to their nobles, and these, in turn, to their favorites. 
Thus we have the beginning of large landed estates in England. 
As for the conquered peoples who lived on the land, they merely 
had the use of parcels of land allotted to them by their lords. 
When America was discovered, its discoverers took possession of 
the land in the name of their sovereigns, who then granted 
large areas to court favorites, or to commercial companies, who 
in time disposed of most of it to colonists. 

Thus the right to individual ownership of property has been 
only gradually acquired; but once acquired, it has been jealously 
guarded against infringement, not only by other 
guarantees individuals, but also by government itself. The 
of property Revolutionary War was fought in defense of this 
"^ ^ and other rights against violation by the English 

government. When the Constitution of the United States was 
framed the people refused to ratify it unless amendments were 
added guaranteeing these rights. Thus it was provided that 
"no soldier shall, in time of peace, be quartered in any house 
without the consent of the owner, nor in time of war, but in a 
manner to be prescribed by law" (Amendment III) ; that ''the 



PROPERTY RIGHTS 393 

right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, 
and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall 
not be violated ..." (Amendment IV); that "no person 
shall be . . . deprived of life, liberty or property, without due 
process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public 
use without just compensation" (Amendment V). The Consti- 
tution also provides that "no state shall . . . pass any . . . 
law impairing the obligation of contracts" (Art. I, sec. 10, 
clause i), and in various other ways protects our property 
rights. Our state constitutions contain many similar pro- 
visions. 

How are property rights guaranteed in your state constitution? 

Read the charges made in the Declaration of Independence against the 
king of England with respect to the violation of property rights. 

In what ways was it charged that Germany violated our property rights 
prior to our entrance into the World War? 

Are property rights as sacred in time of war as in time of peace? 

Study and report on (i) the development of private property in land in 
England; (2) in colonial America. 

What can you find out about the conception of property among the 
American Indians? 

Look up the story of Robert Owen, English communist, and the founding 
of New Harmony in America (see encyclopedia). 

What can you find out about experiments in communism in Russia since 
the recent war? 

If your father owns a piece of land he doubtless has a deed 
for it, containing an accurate description of the land and giving 
him title to ownership. If he bu^s a house he p^^^^ ^^ 
gets a deed for it; if he sells one, he gives a deed ownership 
to the purchaser. In each county there is an °^^^^" 
office of government where all deeds are recorded — the office of 
the recorder or register of deeds. The record of every piece of 
land is thus kept and is open to examination by any one. If a 
man wishes to buy a piece of land he will go to the office of the 
recorder and find out whether the title to the land is clear. Only 
by so doing may he be protected against error or fraud. 



394 COMMUNITY CIVICS 

Since property is likely to change hands a number of times, 
and since men frequently mortgage their property as security 
Transfers for loans or other indebtedness, thus giving to 

of land others a claim to it, it is sometimes a tedious and 

difficult task for a buyer to trace the record back and to be 
sure that the title is clear. It sometimes requires months. 
There are lawyers who make a business of examining the records 
and making abstracts of titles. This involves expense. Besides, 
there is always the chance that a mistake may be made some- 
where. For this' reason some states have adopted a plan known 
as the Torrens System of land transfer, from the name of the 
man who devised it in Australia. 

Under the Torrens System the government itself, through its proper officer, 
may examine the title to any piece of land. The land is then registered, and 
the owner is given a certificate as evidence. If a mortgage is placed on the 
land, or if it changes hands, the transaction is recorded on the certificate 
and in the office records. A mere glance at the record of registry or at the 
certificate is sufficient to ascertain the title to the land. Thus time and ex- 
pense are saved ; and moreover the government gives its absolute guarantee 
to the owner or buyer as to his rights in the land. 

The Torrens System is in use in some form in fourteen states of the Union, 
in the Philippines and Hawaii, and in various other countries of the world. 

Has your father a deed to the property you occupy? If so, ask him to 
show it to you and explain it. How is the land described? 

At the first convenient time, make a visit to the office of the recorder of 
deeds in your county, and ask to have some of the records shown and 
explained to you, preferably the record of the property you occupy. Where 
is the office of the recorder? 

What is a mortgage ? An abstract of title ? (Consult parents.) 

Is the Torrens System in use in your state ? 

We have seen that no person may be deprived of property 
by the government "without due process of law." This 
The service means that the procedure provided by law must 
of the courts ^g followed, and that the citizen whose property 
is taken may have his side of the case presented, the value of 
the property in question appraised by impartial judges, and so 



PROPERTY RIGHTS 



395 



on. It is the business of the courts to see that justice is done. 

See pages Sn-S^S- 

The community has certain rights to a citizen's land that 
are clearly recognized as superior to the citizen's rights. Acting 
through its government, it may take a part of a citizen's property 
by taxation (see Chapter XXIII). Taxes are paid in money; 




The Right of Eminent Domain 

The building on the left is to be removed to make way for the construction of a 

highway in Des Moines, Iowa (see p. 258). The new building under construction 

on the right will face the new highway, and the property on which it stands has 

increased in value almost over night from $50-00 to $200.00 a front foot (see p. 266). 

but if a citizen does not pay the tax upon his land, the govern- 
ment may sell the land for enough to cover the obligation. 

Again, the government may take a citizen's land for public 
uses, if the interests of the community demand it, by what is 
called the right of eminent domain. For example, ^j^^ ^.-gj^^ 
if the interests of the community demand that a of eminent 
new road be built, or a new street laid out, the 
government will seek to buy the necessary land from the prop- 
erty owners along the hne of the proposed improvement. 
Some property owner may say that he does not want the road 



396 COMMUNITY CIVICS 

or street to run through his land, or he may try to get a price 
beyond what his land is worth. The government may then 
condemn the required land and fix, a price despite the property 
owner's objections. The citizen whose land is taken must, 
however, be paid for it ; the Constitution of the United States 
protects him by the provision, ''nor shall private property be 
taken for public use without just compensation" (Amendment 
V, last clause). 

The right of eminent domain may be exercised to secure a 
site for a schoolhouse, a post office, an army post, a court- 
house, or for any other public purpose. The government also 
authorizes corporations that perform a public service to exer- 
cise the right, as in the case of railroads which must obtain 
a right of way for their tracks, and sites for their yards and 
stations. 

What instances of the exercise of the right of eminent domain in your 
community can you give? 

The government may control the use to which a citizen may 
put his property, and even destroy it in time of emergency, by 
The police what is known as the police power. The police 
power power is a somewhat vague power that has never 

been strictly defined, but it is a very great power. It has been 
stated as the power ''to prescribe regulations to promote the 
health, peace, morals, education, and good order of the people, 
and to legislate so as to increase the industries of the state, 
develop its resources, and add to its wealth and its prosperity." 
In exercising such broad powers, however, the government must 
have regard to the constitutional provision that "no state shall 
make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or 
immunities of citizens of the United States ; nor shall any state 
deprive any person of . . . property, without due process of 
law," or "without just compensation." In these constitutional 
provisions on the one hand, and in the police power on the 
other, we have balanced against each other the liberties of the 



PROPERTY RIGHTS 397 

individual citizen and the welfare of the community. To pre- 
serve this balance is a delicate task. 

The delicate balance between the property rights of an individual as 
guaranteed by the Constitution, and the rights of others as protected by the 
police power, is well illustrated by a recent decision of the United States 
Supreme Court. During the war Congress and some of the state legislatures 
passed "rent laws" for the protection of tenants against profiteering land- 
lords. It was a time when it was practically impossible for tenants to find 
new living quarters. The rent laws authorized them to refuse to pay in- 
creased rents until a rent commission should have determined the justice 
of the increase. Landlords denied the validity of these laws on the ground 
that they violated their property rights as guaranteed by the Consti- 
tution, and brought suit in the courts against tenants in order to test the 
matter. Some of these cases finally came to the Supreme Court which up- 
held the law by a vote of 5 to 4. By four of the Justices of the Court the 
law was held to deprive the landlord of property in an unconstitutional 
manner; but the majority of five declared it to be a proper exercise of the 
police power for the protection of the tenants. The decision of the majority 
of course prevailed. 

On the other hand, the community may permit the use of 
public property by private corporations to enable them to 
perform a public service, such as providing trans- Granting 
portation, electric light and power, gas, water, or franchises 
telephone and telegraph service. These are known as public 
utilities. For the performance of such services, the corporation 
must have the use of the public streets, the privilege of such use 
being known as di, franchise. (See Chapter XV.) 

The granting of franchises in American cities has been accom- 
panied by grave abuses. The services performed by public 
utilities corporations are highly essential to the life Abuse of 
of a city ; but in granting franchise privileges the franchises 
interests' of the community have not been sufficiently pro- 
tected. Public service corporations, after having acquired a 
monopoly in their respective lines of business, have often 
profiteered, given poor service, and in other ways abused the con- 
fidence reposed in them by the people or their government. 



398 



COMMUNITY CIVICS 



They have often exercised a corrupt influence over the govern- 
ment. A franchise is an extremely valuable form of property, 
and it has very often happened that, in disputes between the 
city and the corporation, the courts have decided in favor of the 
corporation to the disadvantage of the public interest, on the 
ground that to do otherwise would violate the property rights 
of the corporation. 




Some of the Things That Are Under the Street 
Showing sewers, water pipes, and conduits for wires 



Cities and states are now seeking to control more effectively 
the granting of franchises and the management of public 
Control of service corporations in the interest of the public. 
Instead of leaving the granting of franchises in the 
hands of the city council which, in large cities, has 
too often been dominated by corrupt influences, this power is 
now more often placed in the hands of a special body of men 



public 
utilities 



PROPERTY RIGHTS 399 

not so easily controlled by such influences. In many cases, also, 
the granting of a franchise must be submitted to the people 
for their vote. Public utilities commissions have been created 
to regulate such matters as the fixing of rates that may be 
charged for the service rendered. 

Sacred as property rights are, they are less so than the right 
to "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." A man will 
usually sacrifice his property to save his life, to preserve his 
liberty, or to secure happiness. A normal man looks upon 
property merely as a means by which to secure these other 
ends for himself and those who are dependent upon him. 

Moreover, one man's property rights are not so sacred as 
another man's rights to "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happi- 
ness." That is to say, when one man's property rights come 
into conflict with the physical, spiritual, or social well-being of 
others, the latter demand first consideration. It is undoubtedly 
true, however, that the property rights of one group have often 
been exalted above these other rights of other groups in the 
community. This is the case when a public service corporation 
is protected in its franchise privileges even when they are 
detrimental to the higher interests of the community; or when 
the capitalist or employer is protected in his property rights to 
the obvious physical or spiritual injury of those whom he em- 
ploys. 

What instances of the exercise of the police power in your city can you 
give : (i) in regulating what a citizen may do with his property; C2) in the 
destruction of property for the public welfare? 

What public utilities corporations hold franchises in your city? 

What abuses of franchise privileges are reported in your city ? 

Who has the power to grant franchises in your city ? Is there a franchise 
"referendum" in your city? 

Debate the question : "Resolved, that public utilities should be owned and 
operated by the city, and not by private corporations," 



400 COMMUNITY CIVICS 

READINGS 

Tufts, James H., The Real Business of Living, pp. 62-65, 137-140, 236-252. 
Beard, Charles A., American Citizenship, chap, v, Property Rights. 
Beard, Charles A., American City Government, chap, vii, Franchises and Public Util- 
ities; chap, viii, Municipal Ownership. 
Encyclopedia, under eminent domain, police power, private property. 



CHAPTER XXII 

DEPENDENT, DEFECTIVE, AND DELINQUENT MEMBERS 
OF THE COMMUNITY 

In every community there are some members who are not 
self-supporting and who do not contribute materially to the 
community's progress (see Chapter V and Chapter XVI, p. 288). 

The very young and the very aged come within this group. 

Both are peculiarly dependent upon others, though who con- 

the aged may, by thrift in earlier years, have stitute de- 

. • 1 1 • 1 , pendents, de- 

acquired a competence with which to meet the fectives, and 

needs of old age; and the young are expected, delinquents 

in later years, to compensate the community for the care they 

have received from others during childhood. 

There are those, also, of all ages, who are incapacitated for 
self-support and for service by disease, or by physical or mental 
defects such as bodily deformities, bhndness, or feeble-minded- 
ness. In addition, there are some who, though physically able 
to perform service, deliberately prey upon the community in 
one manner or another without giving anything in return. 
The latter constitute the delinquent class, and include criminals. 

Normally, the needs of those who are unable to support 
themselves, whether because of extreme youth or old age or 
because of physical or mental defects, are pro- Relation of 
vided for by the family. It frequently happens, the family to 
however, that the family is unable to perform this ^ ^^^ ^ 
service. It may be entirely broken up. Children may be left 
without parents, and the aged without children. The natural 
supporters of the family may be stricken by disease, or by 
accident, or by financial misfortune. Moreover, the proper 

401 



402 COMMUNITY CIVICS 

care and treatment of many defectives require better facilities 
and greater skill than can be provided even by well-to-do 
families. Thus a class of dependents is produced — dependents 
upon the community as a whole. They may or may not be 
defectives, physical or mental. 

In the lower stages of civilization it was not uncommon for 
the feeble and the helpless to be put to death, even sickly 
Treatment in children and persons infirm from old age. This 
early times ^g^g done in the name of community interest. 
The struggle for existence was so severe that the presence of 
non-producing or noQ-fighting members endangered the entire 
group. Besides, it was the belief in most cases that the sacrifice 
of the helpless simply hastened their passage into a happier life. 

Humane considerations now prevent such treatment of the 
helpless. Moreover, with our increased skill in medicine and 
Reducing the surgery and education, the diseased and defective 
wastage of may often be restored to health or fitted for some 
form of self-support that makes them happier and 
of use to the community. The wastage of human life has been 
greatly reduced in recent years. Many of the soldiers who re- 
turned from the war in Europe so broken in body or mind that 
in former times they would have dragged out the remainder 
of their lives a burden to themselves and to others have, by 
surgical skill and special forms of education, been restored 
wholly or partially to the ranks of the self-supporting and useful 
members of the community. This rehabilitation of the de- 
pendent and defective members of the community, whether 
their misfortune is due to war or other causes, is the chief aim of 
the treatment given them by the community at the present time. 

It is an accepted principle that each community should, so 
far as possible, care for its own unfortunates. The effectiveness 
with which it is done varies. The office of overseer of the poor 
is one of the oldest in our country and is found in practically 
every small community under that or some other name. His 



DEPENDENTS, DEFECTIVES, AND DELINQUENTS '403 

duty has been to administer relief, usually in the form of food, 
clothing, or fuel, to those who apply or of whose need he is con- 
vinced. Cities have developed a more elaborate Responsi- 
organization for the care of dependents, centering bility of each 
in a department of charities, or a bureau of charities 
within the department of health, or a department of pubhc 
welfare which includes under its supervision not only the actual 
care of dependents, but also health, recreational, and other 
activities designed to remove the causes of dependency. At 
the head of this department or bureau there is usually a commis- 
sioner of charities or of public welfare. 

Some cities maintain pubhc employment offices in an endeavor 
to solve the problem of unemployment. In the city of Dayton, 
Ohio, an employment exchange operated co- Employment 
operatively by the city and state governments and lodging 
received 4,951 applications for work in 1916, referring 3,347 of 
these to positions and actually placing 3,067. Some cities 
maintain public lodging houses where temporary shelter is 
given to homeless persons. The municipal lodging house of 
New York City in 191 5 provided 350,362 accommodations to 
such persons, a daily average of 960. 

It provides a medical clinic, a dental clinic, and a free employment bureau. 
Applicants are given supper and breakfast, bath, fumigation of clothing, 
medical examination and a comfortable bed for one week, during which time 
they must work, if able, in the industrial shops or gangs, with alternate days 
off to seek employment. Dispossessed famihes, mothers with babies, and the 
sick and aged are given special care.^ 

While cities thus have their organization and institutions for 
dealing with problems of poverty, the usual governmental 
unit for administering ''poor relief" is the county The local 
or, in some cases, the township. The county " alms- ^^^ j^g 
house," or "poor farm," or "infirmary," is a local defects 
institution for this purpose. Even cities send many of their poor 

1 Municipal Year Book of the City of New York, 1916, p. 97. 



404 COMMUNITY CIVICS 

to this county institution. Unfortunately such institutions are 
often badly managed. Men and women, old people and children, 
healthy and diseased, blind and crippled, moral and immoral, 
even the insane, are sometimes housed together, mingling with 
one another with little restriction. The evils of such a system 
are apparent. 

Moreover, the policy of the typical almshouse has been 
merely to give shelter and food and clothing to those who ap- 
Short-sighted peal for it, rather than to remedy the causes of 
policy dependency or to restore the unfortunate to a basis 

of self-support and usefulness. Medical treatment is of course 
given to those who need it, but the means do not exist to give 
special expert treatment to particular classes of defectives. 
Little educational opportunity worthy of the name is afforded. 
While able-bodied inmates usually have some work to do, it is 
seldom of a character to train for self-support or to create 
habits of industry. 

To provide this special treatment requires elaborate equipment 
and expert service, which cost a great deal of money, more than 
Remedies most counties or towns feel that they can afford. 
proposed Communities must come to realize that they cannot 

afford to neglect their unfortunate members, no matter what it 
costs to care for them. But the cost need not be so great as it 
seems. A great deal of money is now wasted on almshouses 
without adequate results. This can largely be remedied by 
insisting upon more expert supervision in such institutions, and 
by a system of regular inspection by expert state ofl&cers. 
Greater care should be exercised with respect to those who are 
admitted. Only the deserving should be allowed to live on 
the public funds. It is not uncommon for some classes of 
shiftless people to seek shelter in the almshouse during the winter, 
where they live in comparative comfort and idleness at the public 
expense, only to leave in the spring for a life of aimless indolence, 
imposing as beggars upon kind-hearted people. 



DEPENDENTS, DEFECTIVES, AND DELINQUENTS 405 

Much progress has been made recently in some of our states 
in methods of deahng with problems of dependency even in rural 
districts. In some cases county welfare hoards county wel- 
have been created, with the purpose not only of fare 
administering more effective relief to those who 
are in actual need, but also of investigating and removing, as 
far as possible, the causes of dependency. Such boards employ 
trained executives, and seek to unite in common effort all 
agencies in the county that have direct interest in the problem, 
such as the health officers, the schools, and the churches. 

The county almshouse should be only a temporary place of 
detention for many of the people who now are kept there 
permanently. Those who need special treatment purpose of 
or training should be passed on as quickly as state in- 
possible to special institutions that are equipped 
to care for them. Since most local communities could not well 
afford to maintain such institutions for the comparatively few 
who would need them, the state should maintain enough of them 
at convenient points to provide for the needs of all local com- 
munities. 

The states do maintain such institutions — hospitals and 
sanitariums for those suffering from various types of physical 
and mental disease, homes for orphans and for the aged, and 
for persons with incurable diseases, asylums and schools for 
the blind and the deaf-and-dumb, industrial schools for boys 
and girls. The problem of the state is, first, to develop such 
institutions to the highest possible degree of efficiency for 
the rehabilitation of their patients or inmates, and second, to 
secure effective cooperation on the part of local authorities and 
institutions in transferring those, and only those, who are entitled 
to state assistance. In some states each of these state institu- 
tions is managed independently by its own board of control, 
while in others their management is supervised by a single 
state board. 



4o6 COMMUNITY CIVICS 

When dependents are cared for in institutions, it is called 
indoor relief; when they are cared for outside of institutions, 
Cooperation ^^ their homes, it is called outdoor relief. Outdoor 
for " out- relief requires community organization and co- 

operation and expert leadership quite as much as 
indoor relief. The lack of these has often resulted in great harm 
both to the community and to the needy person. Promiscuous 
giving of charity by well-intentioned persons often results 
in giving to the undeserving as well as to the deserving. There 
are lazy and shiftless individuals who find it easier to live on 
charity than by honest work, and whose lack of self-respect 
permits them to do so. Sometimes they do so by fraudulent 
methods. Giving to such persons encourages pauperism and 
fraud instead of curing it. Kind-hearted people often say 
that they would rather be cheated occasionally by dishonest 
applicants for charity than to fail to help the really needy by 
too great caution. The answer to this is that by proper com- 
munity organization and cooperation the needy will be found 
with much greater certainty, the fraudulent will be detected, 
and the aid given to those who should have it will be much more 
effective. The citizen who refers an applicant for aid to an 
effective organization in a great majority of cases serves both the 
applicant and the community better than by attempting to give 
aid directly. A few pennies or dollars given even to a worthy 
applicant may not reach the root of the trouble at all, and may 
be the innocent cause of perpetuating the trouble. 

Many voluntary organizations exist for charitable and philan- 
thropic purposes. The church has always been one of the chief 
Voluntary agencies to care for the poor and unfortunate; 
agencies ^^^^ there are many others. Sometimes they main- 

tain hospitals and other institutions for the treatment of those 
who need indoor relief. They have done a great deal of good. 
But they are subject to the same difficulties that individuals 
encounter in dealing wisely witb particular cases. They are 



DEPENDENTS, DEFECTIVES, AND DELINQUENTS 407 

frequently deceived by impostors. Seldom do they have expert 
investigators to follow up individual cases and to prescribe the 
most effective remedy. They frequently dupHcate one another's 
work in a wasteful manner. 

This lack of team work has been in large measure remedied 
by the establishment of charity organization societies. Such 
societies do not always give direct relief, but act charity or- 
rather as a "clearing house" for all charitable ganization 
agencies in the community. They have a corps of trained 
investigators who look into each case reported by any individual 
or by other charitable agencies, make a careful record of it, and 
prescribe the proper treatment. The case may then be turned 
over to one of the other agencies equipped to handle it. Philan- 
thropic persons may turn to the charity organization society for 
advice as to purposes for which money is most needed. 

The care of dependent members of the community is one of 
the things responsibihty for which we have been slow to place in 
the hands of government, and which government, y^i^Q. ^f 
when it does have the responsibility, has been slow p^vate 
to handle in an effective way, as in the case of the 
almshouse (see page 403). It has been left very largely to 
voluntary agencies to work out scientific and effective methods 
of dealing with this problem. Our universities now give instruc- 
tion relating to the problems of poverty and the treatment of 
dependent members of the community, and train "social 
workers," who have thus far found employment chiefly as 
secretaries and investigators for voluntary philanthropic 
organizations. In some of our cities there are special "training 
schools for social service." It is only as the work of students 
and the experience of voluntary organizations have demonstrated 
the community responsibility for the solution of these social 
problems and the necessity for united community action in 
dealing with them, that state and local governments have begun 
to develop "departments of public welfare" to perform the 



4o8 COMMUNITY CIVICS 

service. Even our national government, especially through its 
Department of Labor, is giving attention to the causes of 
dependency and methods of dealing with it; and there is now 
under consideration (in 1921) the possible creation of a national 
Department of Public Welfare, whose head would be a member 
of the President's cabinet. 

There will doubtless always be some dependent and defective 
members of the commxUnity for whom the community must 
Causes of care. Their number, however, may be greatly 
musTbe^^^ reduced by creating conditions that will remove 
removed their causes. It has been reported from many 

localities, for example, that the prohibition of the sale of intoxi- 
cating liquors has resulted in the emptying of the "work houses" 
which communities have sustained for the confinement of 
vagrants and persons convicted of petty misdemeanors. Much 
dependency has resulted from the crippling of wage earners by 
industrial accidents and from "industrial diseases" arising from 
work in unwholesome conditions. These causes may be removed 
by the maintenance of wholesome working conditions, by the 
installation of safety devices, and by the exercise of greater care 
by workers and employers. The "safety first" movement 
strikes at the root of much dependency. Inability to read signs 
and to understand instructions on the part of illiterate and 
foreign workers is the cause of many accidents. 

Some states have passed "employers' liability laws," designed 
to hold employers responsible for accidents resulting from failure 
Social in- to provide safe working conditions, and "work- 
surance men's compensation laws," which provide that an 

injured workman shaU receive a portion of his wages during 
incapacity from accident or illness. In some countries various 
forms of compulsory state insurance have been adopted. Ger- 
many, for example, has long had laws requiring employees 
to take out accident insurance and insurance against sickness, 
both employees and employers contributing to the insurance 



DEPENDENTS, DEFECTIVES, AND DELINQUENTS 409 

fund. Pensions for the aged and for widows are also provided 
for, the German Government itself contributing to the fund for 
this purpose. At the close of the year 191 9, 39 of our 48 states 
had laws providing for aid by the state- to mothers who were 
unable to provide properly for their children. 

The aim in our community life should be as far as possible 
to prevent dependency and not merely to relieve suffering after 
it occurs. We shall find that the problem will tend to disappear 
in proportion as we develop in our communities adequate pro- 
vision for health protection and physical development (Chapter 
XI), for vocational and general education (Chapter X), for 
wholesome recreation (Chapter XII), for the cultivation of 
habits of thrift (Chapter XVII); and as we are successful in 
producing a right attitude toward the problem of earning a 
hving and wholesome relations between employer and employee ' 
(Chapters XVI, XVIII). 

Describe the organization and duties of that part of your city government 
which is responsible for the care of dependents. 

Is the policy of this department primarily one of relief, or of rehabilitation, 
or of prevention? Illustrate by examples. 

What institutions for the care of dependents and defectives are there in 
your city? Which of these belong to the city, which to the state, which to 
volunteer organizations? 

If there is a public emplojmient agency or office in your city, ascertain 
the number of appHcants for work served by it, the number placed in posi- 
tions, etc., during the last year. 

Where are tramps and other homeless people lodged in your city? What is 
done for them? If you have a municipal lodging house, ascertain how many 
people it cares for in the course of a month, or year. 

From the reports of your department of charities ascertain how many 
people it gives reHef to in the course of a year. What forms of relief are most 
commonly given? 

Are more people cared for by the city's department of charities or by vol- 
untary organizations? What kind of cooperation takes place between the 
department of charities and such voluntary organizations? 

Report on your county almshouse or poor farm: How many cases are 
sheltered there during the year? How many of them are permanent residents 



4IO COMMUNITY CIVICS 

in the almshouse? What kinds of cases are housed there? The method of 
treatment? Its cost to the community? Is it well administered? 

What state institutions for the care of dependents and defectives has your 
state? Where are they? How are they governed? 

What is the difference between "poverty" and "pauperism"? 

What kind of charity work is done by the church which you attend? 

Is there a charity organization society in your city? Explain its methods 
of work. 

What measures are taken in your city, by public or private enterprise, to 
remove causes of poverty and dependency? 

What laws control begging in your city? Are they good laws? Why? 

Who are some of the "social workers" in your city? What is the nature 
of their work? 

What has been the effect of prohibition upon dependency in your city? 
Give evidence. 

What can you find out about employers' liability laws, workmen's com- 
pensation laws, mothers' pension laws, and other forms of "social insurance" 
in your city and state? 

It is said that there are at least 250,000 people in the United 
States vi^ho make their living by crime, and there are many 
The criminal more who commit crime on occasion. It is said, 
class olso, that to support and control this criminal class 

costs the people of the United States not less than $600,000,000 
per annum, or as much as is expended for the entire educational 
system of the country. 

Crime is the violation of law. The criminal is a member of 
the community who refuses to cooperate with others in accord- 
ance with the law. The conduct of an individual 
may be wrong and harmful to the community 
without being criminal; it becomes criminal only when the law 
actually forbids it. A given act may be a crime in one state and 
not in another because the laws of the states differ in their 
definition of crimes. They also differ in the penalties imposed 
for the same crime. 

The methods of dealing with criminals have changed greatly 
with the progress of civilization, and especially in recent years 
since the causes of crime have become better understood. In 



DEPENDENTS, DEFECTIVES, AND DELINQUENTS 411 

the earlier methods two ideas were prominent : the infliction of 
punishment, and the deterrence of others from committing the 
same offense. The penalties inflicted were there- Early 
fore very severe. The death penalty was in- "eltin"^^ °^ 
flicted not only for taking human life, but also criminals 
for minor offenses, such as stealing. Even in our own country 
in colonial times bodily mutilation was not uncommon, such as 
branding with a hot iron, or cutting off the ears. Prisons were 
vile and loathsome places. 

Humane feehngs have caused the abandonment of such 
treatment. The death penalty still remains for the worst of 
crimes; but efforts have been made to make even Rehabilitation 
it more humane. Many beheve that it should be °^ criminals 
entirely abandoned. The eighth amendment to the Constitution 
of the United States provides that cruel and unusual punish- 
ments shaU not be inflicted. Moreover, a new idea has entered 
into the matter. It is the same idea that controls the modern 
treatment of dependents, namely, that of rehabilitating the 
criminal. It is now recognized that crime results in most cases 
from defective mental or moral conditions in the individual or 
defective social conditions in the community. Some individuals 
commit crime merely because it seems to them the easiest way 
to. make a living or to gain some other end; but even such 
individuals are morally diseased. Much crime is due to tempo- 
rary mental disturbance, as from the use of intoxicants or other 
drugs. Sometimes it is the act of persons who are actually insane 
or feeble-minded. Very often it is committed under pressure 
of poverty. 

In view of these facts, while the deliberate violator of law 
should doubtless be punished, it is even more important that 
the causes of crime should be removed, and that the criminal 
should, as often as possible, be restored to a useful and an honest 
manner of life. The proper treatment of dependents and 
defectives, and the removal of causes of dependency and 



412 COMMUNITY CIVICS 

defectiveness, are essential steps toward the lessening of crime. 

The county jail and the town ''lock-up" are the usual local 
institutions where persons suspected of having violated the 
The local law are detained while awaiting trial in the courts, 

j^'* and also where those convicted of petty misde- 

meanors are imprisoned for punishment. The jail and the 
"lock-up" are as notorious as the almshouse (page 403) for un- 
wholesome conditions and mismanagement, though conditions 
have greatly improved under the influence of an awakened public 
opinion. They have often been unsanitary in the extreme. 
Prisoners have often been treated more like cattle than like 
human beings. Young and old are thrown together, the hardened 
criminal with the youthful ''first offender," and with those 
merely suspected of crime, many of whom will be proved to be 
innocent. The result is demoralizing. Our jails have sometimes 
been said to be "schools of vice and crime." 

Two reforms, at least, are needed in local jails. First, they 
should be made as wholesome as possible, both physically and 
Needed re- morally. They should be perfectly sanitary, and 
form of the food should at least be clean and nourishing. 

^ •'^^ Arrangements should be made to keep the different 

classes of inmates separate, especially the hardened and vicious 
criminals from youthful transgressors and suspects. In the 
second place, the local jail should be merely a place of detention 
for those awaiting trial or, after trial, transfer to other institu- 
tions. Those found guilty by the courts should be transferred 
as quickly as possible to institutions where they may receive 
treatment fitted to their needs. 

Of three persons who steal ten dollars, one may be a deliberate 
thief who prefers to make his living this way; another may be 
Fitting the driven by hunger; and the third may be mentally 
treatment to unbalanced. It is obvious that the treatment 
accorded to each should be determined by these 
facts rather than by the mere amount of the theft. The first 



DEPENDENTS, DEFECTIVES, AND DELINQUENTS 413 

doubtless needs punishment; but he should also have treatment 
designed to change his attitude toward the community and to 
fit him to make an honest living. The second needs to be relieved 
of his want and to be given an opportunity for self-support. 




A Reformatory 

The entire effort is to set the young offender on the right road to honest self-support 

and good citizenship 



The third needs hospital treatment. We are only beginning to 
see that treatment should be made to fit the criminal fully as 
much as to fit the crime. 

Proper treatment for all the various classes of cases cannot 
well be given in the county jail; nor can the local community 
as a rule afford to maintain separate institutions g^^^^ -^^ ^j.^_ 
for them, as the number in each class is very small tions for 
in a given community. Large cities do maintain ®i^^"e»*s 
their owru prisons, workhouses, and reformatories, in some of 



414 



COMMUNITY CIVICS 



which rehabUitation of the prisoner is emphasized. But there is 
need for state institutions to which those convicted in the local 
courts may be sent. Such institutions exist, although not always 
adequate to the needs of the state. They include state peni- 




WoRK Shop in a State Penitentiary of New York 

Modern penitentiaries keep prisoners employed in occupations that are of use to the 
state and that help to make them self-supporting. 



tentiaries, reform and industrial schools, hospitals for the insane, 
special schools for the feeble-minded, and others. These 
institutions have been steadily improving in their efficiency. 
The greater difficulty seems to be in the local communities, in 
securing the assignment of offenders to the proper institutions. 
Great changes have occurred in recent years in the methods 
of administering state penitentiaries. Under old conditions 
convicts were either confined in isolation and idleness or con- 
demned to hard labor. The most rigid and arbitrary discipline 



DEPENDENTS, DEFECTIVES, AND DELINQUENTS 415 

was enforced. Modern penitentiaries keep prisoners employed 
in occupations that are of use to the state, that are designed to 
train the prisoner for useful service, and that yield Administra- 
him some compensation that will help to make him tion of state 
self-supporting when he leaves. They also maintain P"^°^^ 
schools for the instruction of prisoners in at least the common 
branches of knowledge and in vocational subjects. Great care 
is taken of health. In some cases the prisoners are graded 
according to their conduct and their ability to assume respon- 
sibility, certain privileges and freedom and participation in the 
administration of the prison being bestowed upon them so long 
as they show a sense of their responsibility. The period of 
imprisonment may be shortened as a reward for good conduct. 

In primitive communities such as early mining camps, where 
stable government had not been developed, men often organ- 
ized themselves as ''vigilance committees" to appre- Denial of 
hend and punish offenders against the law. Speedy ^^^ *"^ 
punishment was often meted out. Under the conditions that 
existed such procedure may have been necessary; but it was 
always dangerous, for it denied a fair trial, and resulted in exces- 
sive and cruel punishments. Whether or not such methods were 
justified under the conditions of frontier life, they are wholly 
vicious in communities where established courts exist. We hear 
too frequently of ''lynching parties" and similar self-appointed 
"committees" that "take the law in their own hands," not 
merely in isolated, backwoods communities, but even occasion- 
ally in our large cities. An attempt to excuse such procedure 
is often made on the ground of failure on the part of the police 
to apprehend offenders, or of the courts to mete out justice 
promptly and impartially. But lynching parties are as lawless 
as the original offenders. They not only indicate, but breed, 
a disrespect for law. They frequently do great injustice, and 
are always a menace to our liberties and an infringement of 
the rights guaranteed by the Constitution. 



41 6 COMMUNITY CIVICS 

The Constitution guarantees justice to persons accused of 
crime. " In all criminal prosecutions the accused shall enjoy the 
The rights right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial 
of accused jury of the state and district wherein the crime 
persons shall have been committed . . . and to be informed 

of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with 
the witnesses against him, to have compulsory process for 
obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the assistance of 
counsel for his defense" (Amendment VI). "Excessive bail 
shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and 
unusual punishments inflicted" (Amendment VIII). 

It is the business of the courts to see that justice is done to an 
accused person as well as to protect the interests of the com- 
munity against the criminal (see pages 511, 514). 
Like the other parts of our government, however, 
our courts do not always work perfectly (see page 50). This 
has been especially true of the police courts and other minor 
courts of the local community before which the great majority 
of offenders are brought for preliminary hearing or, if their offense 
is a minor one, for trial and sentence. One reason for this is 
the inferior ability and character of many of the magistrates 
and justices in these courts as compared with the judges of the 
higher courts of state and nation. The political corruption and 
graft that have too commonly characterized city and county 
government in the United States (see pages 515-516) have 
invaded even the courts of justice. At times, in some of our 
cities, the police and police courts have even accorded protection 
to the criminal classes. At other times, offenders have been 
treated with undue brutality by police and magistrates. It has 
been altogether too common for the poor, friendless violator of 
the law to be harshly dealt with after a scant hearing, even 
though his offense is slight, while the rich and influential, guilty 
perhaps of greater offenses, are let off easily or escape penalty 
entirely. 



DEPENDENTS, DEFECTIVES, AND DELINQUENTS 417 

One weakness in the procedure of administering justice is the 
long delay that frequently occurs in bringing the offender to trial 
and in securing conviction or acquittal. This is due Delays of 
in part to the congestion of business in the higher '^® ^^w 
courts before which many of the cases are finally brought; in 
part to the success with which lawyers secure delay by some 
technicality of the law, in the hope that something will happen 
favorable to their side of the case. These delays are irritating 
to the community, as well as costly. On the other hand, during 
the delay the accused person, whether guilty or innocent, 
may languish in a crowded and demoralizing jail or city prison. 
Notwithstanding these and other defects in the administration 
of justice, improvement has been quite marked in many partic- 
ulars. Recent reforms in city and county govern- j^^f 
ment (see Chapters XXV and XXVI) have reduced adi^nTstra" 
corrupt influences upon police departments and *i<>n of justice 
police courts. Local prisons have been reformed. New types 
of courts have been created to deal with special classes of 
offenders and to make possible more careful consideration of 
the merits of each case. Sentences are imposed with more 
thought for the " rehabilitation " of the offender. First offenders 
and those whose offense seems to be due more to unfortunate 
surroundings than to criminal tendencies, are often permitted 
to retain their freedom on probation, thus relieving them of the 
stigma of imprisonment and affording them a fair opportunity 
to "make good" in the eyes of the community. 

One of the most important of recent reforms is that in the 
treatment of juvenile offenders. This reform centers in the 
creation of a juvenile court, where the usual pro- juvemle 
cedure and publicity of a criminal court are avoided, ^^^^^ 
and where the judge takes the attitude of a father or friend 
toward the accused. While awaiting trial the youthful offender 
is sent, not to jail with older prisoners, but to a detention home 
where he is accorded the best of care. Each case is carefully 



4i8 



COMMUNITY CIVICS 



investigated to discover the cause of the trouble and to arrive 
at a wise conclusion as to the treatment to be given. Many of 
the young offenders are released on parole under the supervision 




A JuvENiLic Court 

This is a scene in the licsl-known juvenile court in the United States- 
Denver, Colo. Judge Ben i^indsay is conducting the court. 



that of 



of a probation officer to whom they must report at regular 
intervals. In the case of serious offenses, or of repeated wrong- 
doing, or of violation of parole, offenders are sent to reform or 
industrial schools. The entire effort is to set the young offender 
on the road to honest self-support and good citizenship. 

Make a study of methods of punishment in colonial times. 

Should capital punishment be abolished? 

Compare the contlltions in your county jail, or your city prison, with those 
described on page 412. 

Is it desirable that there should be different definitions of crime in dif- 
ferent states, and dilTerent penalties for the same crime? 



DEPENDENTS, DEFECTIVES, AND DELINQUENTS 419 

What is meant by making punishment fit the criminal as well as the crime? 

What state institutions for the care of delinquents has your state? Where 
are they? How are they governed? 

What is the method of treating prisoners in your state penitentiary? Is 
it a good method? Why? 

Investigate and report on the work of Thomas Mott Osborn in prison 
reform. 

What is meant by an "indeterminate sentence " ? What is its purpose? 

Why are lynching parties a menace to the community? 

Why should a criminal have justice accorded to him? 

What is the purpose of trial by jury? Is it easy to get an "impartial jury " 
in your community? Why should a trial be conducted in the state and dis- 
trict where the crime was committed? 

What is meant by "compulsory process" for obtaining witnesses? 

What is bail? How is it obtained? How does it protect the accused? 
How does it protect the community? 

Make a report on police or magistrates' courts in your city. How are po- 
lice magistrates chosen? Is it a good method? Why? 

Is there any less reason for having good justices in the minor courts than 
in the higher courts? 

What instances can you give of delays in administering justice by the 
courts? Why are such delays costly? 

What efforts are made in your community to "rehabilitate" offenders 
against the law? 

Report on the methods used in juvenile courts and of dealing with juvenile 
offenders after trial, especially in your own city. 

READINGS 

Annual reports of your city government, especially of the police department and 

the department of charities. 
Reports of state board of charities and of administrative boards of state institutions. 
Reports of your local Charity Organization Society. 

Publications of the Children's Bureau, U.S. Department of Labor. Send- for list 
from which to select. Two valuable publications of this Bureau are: 
Bureau Publication No. 32, "Juvenile Delinquency in Rural New York." 
Bureau Publication No. 60, "Standards of Child Welfare." This contains among 
other valuable material, discussions of child labor and legislation relating to it, 
of the care of dependent and defective children, and of juvenile delinquency. 
In Lessons in Community and National Life: 

Series A: Lesson 5, The human resources of a community. 

Lesson 28, The worker in our society. 
Series C: Lesson 8, Preventing waste of human beings. 



420 COMMUNITY CIVICS 

Lesson 20, The family and social control. 

Lesson 26, Charity in the community. 

Lesson 30, Social insurance. 
The following are a few good books relating to the topics of this chapter: 
Burch, H. R., and Patterson, S. H., American Social Problems, chaps, xvi-xx 

(MacmUian). 
Henderson, C. R., Dependents, Defectives, and Delinquents. 
Warner, A. G., American Charities. 
Devine, E. T., Principles of Relief. 

Addams, Jane, Twenty Years at Hull House, and The House on Henry Street. 
Ellwood, C. A., Sociology and Modern Social Problems. 
Beard, Charles A., American City Government, chap, vi, "Guarding the City." 



CHAPTER XXIII . 

TEAM WORK IN TAXATION 

People have never liked to pay taxes. Their repugnance to 
it is largely a survival of the times when an autocratic ruling 
class imposed taxes upon the people for its own 
semsh purposes. Strugghng for the bare neces- of the 
sities of life, the people had to pay the bills of the people for 
ruling class who lived in luxury. The long struggle 
for liberty in England and in the English colonies was a struggle 
against the power of rulers to impose taxes without the consent 
of the people. The habit of mind with respect to taxation, 
formed under such conditions, has to a considerable extent 
persisted into the present, when conditions are very different. 

The change to government "of the people, by the people, for 
the people" should put the paying of taxes in a very different 
light. We decide upon a service we want per- whattaxa- 
formed for us, we provide the governing machinery tion means in 
to perform the service, and the service must be * emocracy 
paid for. We do not object to paying for having our house 
built, our food provided, our clothes made, and our goods 
hauled. Why should we object to paying for the service of 
schools, roads, protection of health and property, the defense 
of our liberties? Such objection seems especially unreasonable 
when we consider that the value of the service rendered by the 
government is, as a rule, far in excess of what it costs the 
individual citizen. 

In Chapter IV we read how Benjamin Franklin secured the 
services of a man to keep the pavements of the neighborhood 

421 



422 COMMUNITY CIVICS 

clean ''for the sum of sixpence per month to be paid by each 
house." By this bit of cooperation, each householder was re- 
Benefits of lieved of a burden, and had the benefit not only of 
team work in having his own pavement cleaned, but also of 
^^ ^°^ knowing that those of all his neighbors would be 

equally clean, and thus of having a pleasanter neighborhood, 
and the cost was insignificant. This incident illustrates the 
underlying principle of taxation in a self-governing community. 
The poorest citizen is made rich in the benefits that he may 
enjoy, while the cost is made proportional to his ability to pay. 

Like the rest of our governing machinery, however, our 
system of levying, collecting, and paying taxes does not always 
Misuse of work perfectly, and there is more or less ground 
taxes fQj- dissatisfaction with it. In the first place, the 

people do not always get full value for their taxes. While it 
is true that the citizen receives, in return for his tax, vastly more 
than he could purchase privately with the same amount of 
money, yet, if street improvements are poorly made, or. the 
schools badly administered, or the laws badly enforced, he gets 
less than he should. It usually costs as much to employ an 
inefficient street supervisor, or school superintendent, or sheriiEf, 
as to employ an efficient one — in fact, in the long run it costs 
more. Sometimes more persons are employed in govern- 
ment offices than there is any need for, or some of those em- 
ployed are shirkers, or otherwise inefficient. There is waste- 
fulness in the methods by which appropriations are made for the 
expenses of government. Sometimes there is "graft," by which 
public money is diverted to the private uses of officials, contract- 
ors, or others. 

Such abuses as these are, of course, not faults of the taxing 
system, but they naturally make citizens reluctant" to pay taxes. 
People want to know that their money is spent for the pur- 
poses for which it was paid, and that it is used economically 
and effectively for these purposes. Nothing else will do so 



TEAM WORK IN TAXATION 423 

much to remove the disHke of taxation as assurance on 
these points. As FrankHn said with reference ^ cause of 
to his successful experiment in street cleaning, dissatisfac- 
it "raised a general desire to have all the streets 
paved, and made the people more willing to submit to a 
tax for that purpose." 

A system of taxation must he just if it is to meet with popular 
approval. It is not easy, nor indeed possible, to devise a system 
that works with absolute justice in every case, for Taxation 
the assessment of taxes is a complicated process, °^"^* ^® J^^* 
and reliance must be placed to a considerable extent upon the 
honesty and conscientiousness of individual citizens. The 
people are more likely to be' satisfied, however, if they see that 
every reasonable effort is made to secure justice. 

The first essential in a just system is that every citizen shall 
bear his share of the burden. Therefore the paying of taxes 
is compulsory by law. It is also just that each citizen shall 
pay only in proportion to his ability. These two principles of 
taxation are similar to those applied in the selective draft for 
war service (see page 89). It is in assessing taxes according 
to ability to pay that one of the principal difficulties appears. 
But an effort has been made to do this by the following pro- 
cedure. 

It is first necessary to know how much money will be needed 
by the government. Each year, therefore, the heads of the 
various branches and departments of the govern- How the 

, ^ J • J r J 1 • T_ J amount to be 

ment make an estimate tor the commg year, based raised is 

on their knowledge of past expenditures and present determined 

and future needs. Such estimate can be made intelligently only 

when there is an accurate and business-like system of keeping 

accounts and records, and a well-planned budget system (see 

page 309). Unbusiness-like methods of keeping accounts and the 

lack of a budget system have been among the chief weaknesses 

of our governments, equally characteristic of local, state, and 



424 



COMMUNITY CIVICS 



national governments. Efforts are being made to remedy these 
defects and are described in Chapters XXV, XXVI, XXVII, and 
XXVIII. 




The Custom House, New York City 



The second thing to be ascertained is the abihty of each 
citizen to pay. In some states a uniform poll tax is assessed 
Taxes on upon every adult citizen. This is a tax upon the 

property and P^^^on and usually amounts to about two dollars, 
privileges Only those are exempt who are incapable of self- 
support. State and local governments depend principally upon 
a general property tax, for which purpose property is divided 
into two kinds: real estate, which includes land and buildings, 
and personal property, which includes furniture, tools, livestock, 
money, and valuables of various kinds. In addition to the 
general property tax there may be taxes vo^on incomes and upon 
inheritances. There are also license taxes, such as dog and 
automobile licenses. Finally there are taxes upon certain 



TEAM WORK IN TAXATION 425 

privileges which are bestowed upon the individual by the com- 
munity and have a money value. Of such a nature is the license *^ 
tax imposed upon a peddler or upon a person who maintains a 
market stand on the public street. Such, also, are the taxes 
placed upon corporations for the privilege of using the pubHc 
highways for car tracks, water mains, or telephone poles. 

It is necessary, therefore, for the government to assess the 
value of the property (or privilege) of each citizen, and it has 
its organization for this purpose. Each local com- ^^^ assess- 
munity (township, county, or city) has one or more ment of 
tax assessors, who endeavor to ascertain by inquiry 
or inspection the value of each citizen's property. The sum of 
the individual assessments constitutes the assessment valuation 
for the town^ or county, or city; and the sum of the valuations 
of these local communities constitutes the valuation for the 
entire state. 

The third step is to ascertain the rate of taxation. This is 
found by dividing the total amount to be raised by taxation 
by the total property valuation of the county or The rate of 
state, as the case may be. If the amount to be taxation 
raised is $500,000, and the property valuation is $10,000,000, 
the rate would be 5 per cent, and the tax is levied against each 
citizen at this rate. A citizen who owns twice as much property 
as another, should pay twice as much tax. Each should pay 
according to his ability. 

This seems like a simple procedure; but it is very difficult 
to get a just result. The difficulty lies chiefly in the assess- 
ment. It requires a good deal of intelligence to Difficulty of 
assess property fairly, even with the best of in- just assess- 
tentions. Assessors are not always competent. 
Two assessors may differ in their judgment, so that assessments 
in one part of the community may run at a lower level than in 
another part. Thus assessments vary in their fairness in 
different townships of the same county, and in different counties 



426 COMMUNITY CIVICS 

of the same state. An attempt is made to avoid this by means 
of county and state tax equalization hoards, which seek to adjust 
differences of this sort. But their efforts are only partially 
successful. 

Property owners are themselves, however, more responsible 
than any one else for the inequities of taxation in our country. 
Responsi- It is a common practice of tax assessors to accept 
property ^^ property owner's own statement of the valu- 

owners ation of his property. In an astonishingly large 

proportion of cases he gives a valuation far below the real one. 
Even when the assessor inspects the property, it is easy to con- 
ceal from his eyes certain forms of personal property, such as 
money, stocks and bonds, and jewelry. Land and livestock 
cannot be concealed; and for this reason farmers are likely to 
pay a heavier share of taxes than others whose property is in 
less conspicuous forms. But they may make false valuations. 

In one state, where the law requires the assessment of real estate "at 

its true value in money when sold in the ordinary manner of sale," a study 

in one township showed that "the average tax value of farm 

Illustrations ^q,^^ in the open country ... is $7.89, while the average 

assessments ^(^^ket value runs around $20. The 73 largest tax payers 

give in their farm holdings at values ranging from $6 to 

$20 an acre. Thus the burden of state and county support falls three or four 

times as heavily on one acre of farm land as on another — on farms lying side 

by side. 

"When we look at suburban farm land the tax values range from $17 to 
$2,220 an acre. 

"But the most amazing 'jokes' appear in the values put by their owners 
on improved town lots. In the same end of the town we founct three hand- 
some town properties worth around $15,000 each; the tax values were 
$550, $4,400, $4,950. In another neighborhood, two adjoining homes 
about equal in value were listed at $500 and $3,400; one at about 50 per 
cent and the other at about 8 per cent of the actual value." 

With regard to personal property in the same township, "the wealthiest 
private taxpayer in the township lists household goods and utensils, work- 
stock, vehicles, money, jewelry ... at $216. The next wealthiest private 
taxpayer covers all these properties with $105. He's a farmer and well- 



TEAM WORK IN TAXATION 427 

to-do, but his household furniture, farm animals, vehicles, implements, 
and the Hke, are worth only $105 — on the tax hst." ^ 

Such inequalities as these may be found in almost every tax 
list in any community. One of the strange things about it is 
that citizens evade taxation who would not think pub^c and 
of being dishonest or unfair in a private business private 
transaction. The reason is not easy to under- °^®^ ^ 
stand. Doubtless it is partly due to the feeling that as long 
as "everybody does it" it is justifiable. Of course this is not 
true. One taxpayer is reported as saying, ''I feel dog-mean 
whenever I give in my taxes; but I'm doing as well as the rest 
and a little better than most." 

Dishonest returns by one taxpayer defraud the citizen who 
is honest, because they place a heavier burden of taxation upon 
the latter. Moreover, the dishonest taxpayer q^^^ ^^^^^ 
cheats himself along with others, for the lower the and good 
valuation of property, the higher the rate of taxa- 
tion, or the poorer the service received from the government. 
" It is good sense and good business for a state to show up with 
large tax values and low tax rates. It shows a brisk and lively 
prosperity that is attractive to outside capital and enterprise." ^ 

To secure fairer taxation and better returns from taxation 
there is need of improvement in the organization for tax assess- 
ment and tax equalization. It is especially im- intelligence 
portant to make it more difficult for the " tax and pubUcity 
dodger" to evade his responsibility. It would 
seem, however, that there would be fewer "tax dodgers" if 
the people once got "the right idea" of what taxation really 
means in a democracy (see page 52). Great improvement 
would doubtless result, even under present conditions, if honest 
citizens would take more interest in the results of assessments 

1 E. C. Branson, A Township Tax-List Study; in North Carolina Club Year Book, 
1917-1918, pp. 66, 67 (The University of North Carolina Extension Series No. 30). 

2 Ef C, Branson, A Township Tax-List Study. 



428 



COMMUNITY CIVICS 



as shown in the tax lists. The writer quoted in the paragraphs 
above asserts that, next to the Bible, "the most important 
book in any county is the Tax List, and it is the one book that 
the people in general know least about." 




A Clever Smuggler's Device 

But not clever enough to fool the customs inspector. The heart of this Bible was 

cut out to contain opium. 



Everybody knows in a vague, general way that something is wrong 
with our tax system . . . but what everybody does not know is what the 
facts are in concrete, accurate detail. There is no cure like publicity for 
wrongs in a democracy. Give the folks the facts, whatever they are, and the 
folks will do the rest. . . . But at present nobody knows the facts. That 
is to say, nobody but the tax listers, the registers, and the sheriffs. And 
they are dumb because their official lives depend on silence.^ 

Do people of your acquaintance like to pay taxes? What reasons do they 
give? 

What is the cost of your county government, your city government, and 
your state government per year? Which is greatest? 

For what purposes is most money spent by your city government, your 
county government, and your state government? 

1 E. C. Branson, A Township Tax-List Study. 



TEAM WORK IN TAXATION 429 

What is the assessed valuation of property in your town, county, state? 

Does the law in your state require that property shall be assessed at its 
full market value? If not, at what part of its market value? 

What is the tax rate in your city? Is it high or low? Reasons why it is 
high or low? 

What are the sources of revenue in your city and state, and the amount ' 
raised from each source? 

Describe the work of a tax assessor in your city. 

Where are taxes paid in your community? 

Who has charge of tax collections in your community? 

What happens to a citizen in your community who fails to pay his taxes? 

What is the difference between "assessing" and "levying" taxes? 

Who levies the taxes in your city? county? state? 

Explain the statement that "large tax values and low tax rates attract 
outside capital and enterprise" (page 427). 

We have been speaking so far of taxation for the purposes of 
state and local governments. But Congress also has power 
*' to lay and collect taxes ... to pay the debts and xaxation by 
provide for the common defense and general wel- the national 
fare of the United States " (Constitution, Art. I, sec. sovernmen 
8, clause i). State and local governments raise most of their 
revenues by direct taxation upon the property of citizens. The 
national government, on the other hand, has always relied 
chiefly upon indirect taxation. Congress levies duties on imports. 
These duties are paid in the first instance by the importer. The 
latter, however, adds the tax to the price of the goods, so that it 
is paid finally by the consumers and not by the importer. In a 
similar manner Congress levies excise taxes, which are taxes upon 
products manufactured in this country. The principal excise 
taxes have been those levied on alcoholic liquors and tobacco. 
But here again the tax is paid by the consumer in the price which 
he pays for the liquor or tobacco. 

The chief advantage of indirect taxes is the ease and cer- 
tainty with which they may be collected by the government. 
The citizen pays them whenever he buys the articles on which 
the tax is levied. The retail dealer passes them on to the 



430 



COMMUNITY CIVICS 



wholesaler, and so finally the importer is reimbursed. The 
government collects the taxes at customs houses at ports of 
Advantages entry, or at the tobacco factories and, formerly, at 
of indirect distilleries. Prohibition has deprived the govern- 
taxa ion ment of one of its chief sources of revenue. Indirect 

taxes are also less objectionable to the people, for they are 





:lnB AiMv^ 




^B \ -Sr*Mf||||.. ^ ^ 


4 


: ■ .'^R*^ *■" ^' 








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^^^/jill^ 




It 




■ "^ « 




1. i^j' 


^■i^-M^^ 


71. - 


L|^^ ":.^P^ "^i^i^B^^ 3 


; 1 



Making Income Tax Returns 

The last few days before the date set for the completion of these returns is a busy 
time in the thousands of revenue ofl&ces in the country. 

seldom cbnscious of paying them when they buy goods upon 
which they are levied. 

Congress has the power to levy direct as well as indirect taxes, 
but it has usually avoided direct taxation, partly for the reasons 
Federal stated aboVe, and partly because the Constitution 

income tax provides that "no capitation or other direct tax 
shall be laid, unless in proportion to the census or enumeration 
hereinbefore directed to be taken;" that is, in proportion to 



TEAM WORK IN TAXATION 



431 



population. It has been found difficult in practice to make 
such apportionment. Various attempts by Congress to levy 
a direct tax on incomes have been declared unconstitutional by 
the Supreme Court because it was not so apportioned. The 
Constitution has now been amended, however, to give Congress 
the power "to lay and collect taxes on incomes from whatever 
source derived, without apportionment among the several 




Keystone View Co. 



Aliens Filing Income Tax Returns 
New York Custom House 



States, and without regard to any census or enumeration" 
(Amendment XVI). . 

A large revenue is now derived from the national income 
tax. The law at first exempted from it single persons whose 
income was less than $3,000, and married persons whose income 
was less than $4,000. As a result of the war, the amount ex- 
empted was reduced to $1,000, for those who are single, and to 
$2,000 for those who are married, with an additional exemption 
for each dependent child. The tax is progressive; that is, the 
larger one's income, the higher rate one pays. 



432 



COMMUNITY CIVICS 



In ordinary times of peace, state and local governments 
together spend much more money than the national government. 
In war time the reverse is true. Enormous sums 
of money were required for the conduct of the recent 
war. As a result the rates of import, excise, and income taxes 



War taxes 




Laboratory of the Internal Revenue Oefice 
Examining patent medicines and "near-beer" to determine percentage of alcohol 



were greatly increased, and unusual forms of taxation were 
adopted. A war tax was placed upon many articles of common 
use, an inheritance tax was imposed similar to that in some of 
the states, and the excess profits of businesses which the war 
made unusually prosperous were taxed heavily. The effort in 
every case was to distribute the tax so that every one should 
do his share, while the burden should rest most heavily upon 
those who could best bear it. 

A large part of the money necessary for war purposes, and 



TEAM WORK IN TAXATION 433 

for permanent improvements in time of peace, is raised by- 
borrowing. Governments, whether national; state, or local, bor- 
row money by the sale of bonds , the purchase price Government 
with interest being returned to the purchaser ^°^°^ 
after a stated period of years. The national government bor- 
rowed more than 22 billion dollars during the war by the sale 
of "Hberty bonds," and an additional large sum by the sale of 
'' war savings stamps " (see page 318). These loans made by the 
people are ultimately paid off with funds raised by taxation. 
The people to-day advance money to the government, which the 
people of to-morrow pay back by taxation. This is justifiable 
because the war was fought for the benefit of future generations 
as well as of the people to-day. For the same reason, the cost 
of permanent improvements, such as roads and public buildings, 
is distributed over a period of years. 

What is the full meaning of Article I, section 8, clause i, and section 7, 
clause I, of the Constitution? 

Investigate the loss to the nation of revenue as a result of the prohibition 
of the liquor traj66c. 

What compensating financial gains result to the nation through prohibi- 
tion of the liquor traffic? 

Why is an income tax a good form of taxation? Why should it be "pro- 
gressive" (page 431)? 

What is the justice of an inheritance tax? Of a tax on excess profits? 

Upon what articles do you pay an import duty? 

Why is government justified in compelling the payment of taxes? 

READINGS 

County and state reports. Local tax lists. 
In Lessons in Community and National Life: 
Series B: Lesson 22, Financing the war. 

Lesson 23, Thrift and war savings. 
The United States Treasury Department; in The Federal Executive Departments, 

Bulletin, 1919, No. 74, U.S. Bureau of Education. 
In Long's American Patriotic Prose: 

Taxation and Government (John Fiske), pp. 249-254. 
North Carolina Club Year Book, 1917-1918, pp. 49-68 (University of North Carolina 
Record, Extension Series No. 30, Chapel Hill, N.C.). 



434 COMMUNITY CIVICS 

Tufts, The Real Business of Living, pp. 52-54, 242-246. 

Beard, Charles A., American City Government, chap, v, "Raismg and Spending the 

City's Money." 
Hart, A. B., Actual Government, pp. 381-429 (Longmans, Green & Co.). 
Reed, T. H., Form and Functions of American Government, pp. 468-481 (World 

Book Co.). 
Encyclopedia of American Government, under "Tax" and "Taxation." 



CHAPTER XXIV 

HOW WE GOVERN OURSELVES 

Early in our study we considered the question why we have 
government (Chapter IV). We saw then that it is the people's 
organization for team work in protecting and promoting their 
common interests. Succeeding chapters contain evidence that 
this is so, although they also show that the results achieved by 
government are by no means perfect. Now we are to consider 
how we have organized to get team work and how well our 
organization is suited to its purpose. 

In so far as government performs service for us, it must have 
an organization for that purpose, with competent leadership ; 
and if it is not to interfere unduly with freedom Organization 
of action or personal liberty, the people must have ^^^ for^con- 
an organization by which to maintain control over trol 
it. Thus there must be an organization to insure efficient service, 
and there must be an organization to insure democracy, or 
popular control. If both organizations are effective, we have an 
efficient democracy, toward which we have been striving through 
all our history, but which we have not yet completely attained. 

A government may be efficient in performing service for the people with- 
out being democratic. In fact, it may be easier to get efficient service 
under an autocratic government. Germany before the war illustrated this. 
But we beheve that a government may be both efficient and democratic. 
This depends upon competent leadership and popular control. 

In the remaining pages of this book we shall consider both the 
organization of our government for service and that for popular 
control. In this chapter we shall examine some of the methods 
by which we seek to control government, or to be ^^//-governing. 

435 



436 COMMUNITY CIVICS 

The people of a community may govern themselves by direct 
action or indirectly through representatives. When EngUsh 
Direct self- colonists settled New England, geographical 
government conditions and other reasons led them to form 
small, compact communities, in which it was easy to assemble 
frequently at the meetinghouse to discuss matters of community 
concern and to agree upon rules, or laws, to regulate them. This 
local government by "town meeting" has persisted in many 
New England "towns," or "townships," to the present day. 

This direct action of the people in the New England town is 
for the purpose of making the laws only. When it comes to 
Representa- ^^^ enforcement of these laws, it is necessary to dele- 
tiye self- gate the authority to some one. The town meeting 

governmen ^ould make a law against permitting hogs to run at 
large, but it chose some one, a "hog reeve," to see that the law 
was observed. When the community is large it is found more con- 
venient to choose representatives also to make the laws. Thus 
each Massachusetts town had its representative in the law-making 
assembly of the colony as a whoje. This representative system of 
government now prevails in our cities, counties, states, and nation. 

Even in the larger communities, however, such as cities, states, 
and the nation itself, the people have sought to retain more or 
Direct self- less direct control over law making. In the first 
through^con- pl^ce, the "fundamental law" of the states and 
stitutions nation found in their constitutions, which determine 

what the form and powers of government shall be, has been 
adopted by more direct action of the people than most other 
laws. The preamble to the federal Constitution asserts that 
"We, the people of the United States ... do ordain and 
establish this Constitution for the United States of America." 
Neither state nor national constitutions can be altered except 
by special action by the people themselves, either by direct vote 
at the polls or by conventions of representatives chosen 
especially for the purpose. 



HOW WE GOVERN OURSELVES 



437 



It has long been the practice in many communities to submit 

important local questions to popular vote for decision, such as 

the question of issuing bonds for public improve- Direct law 

ments, or of licensing saloons. Within recent ^f^^P , 
, . , initiative and 

years m a number of states the people have gained referendum 

direct control over law making in regard to any subject whatever, 




"Equal Suffrage" 

A man and his wife casting their ballots. Note the voting 
booths in the background. 

both in local and state affairs, by means of the "initiative and 
referendum." The "initiative" is the right of the voters 
themselves to "initiate," or propose, legislation. This is done 
by means of a petition signed by a specified number of voters. 
The legislature may then act upon the proposed law; but if it 
does not do so, the law is submitted to the people for their vote at 



438 COMMUNITY CIVICS 

the next election. On the other hand, if the legislature passes a 
law that is objectionable to some of the voters a petition signed by 
a specified number of voters requires the law to be referred to the 
people for their approval or rejection. This is the " referendum." 

Of the 21 states that had adopted the initiative and refer- 
endum (to 1 91 7), only four were east of the Mississippi River 
Democracy of (Maine, Maryland, Michigan, and Ohio).^ The 
the West movement to increase popular control oyer govern- 

ment has always been stronger in the West, as we shall see in 
other connections. 

For the most part, however, our laws are made by our repre- 
sentatives, over whom we exercise more or less control. Some 
of the more important means by which this control is exercised 
are described in following chapters; but first of all we exercise 
control by choosing our representatives at frequent intervals. Let 
us inquire to what extent the people have a voice in this choice. 

It is not true that all citizens have a voice in choosing their 

representatives, though it is more nearly true to-day than ever 

before. The right to a voice in this choice is called 
The suffrage ^ ^ -r • 1 1 i ^ 

the suffrage, it is bestowed only on those citizens 

who possess certain qualifications. The constitution of each 
state fixes the qualifications for those who live within the 
boundaries of the state, the national government having exer- 
cised no control over the matter except in two cases. After 
the Civil War, the Fifteenth Amendment to the federal Con- 
stitution was adopted, providing that "the right of citizens 
of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by 
the United States, or by any state, on account of race, colorj 
or previous condition of servitude;" and the recently adopted 
Nineteenth Amendment bestows the suffrage upon all women 
of the nation who possess the other necessary qualifications. 

^ "The Initiative and Referendum," Bulletin No. 6, submitted to the Constitu- 
tional Convention of Massachusetts (1917) by the Commission to Compile Informa- 
tion and Data, p. 10. 



HOW WE GOVERN OURSELVES 439 

The founders of our nation were far from democratic as we 
now understand the term. They beUeved that the government 
should be controlled by the educated and prop- Early distrust 
ertied class, which was small. The lack of con- o^ ^^^ p^^p^® 
fidence in the people was shown in various ways, but among 
others by the restriction of the suffrage. This was true even 
in the New England town meeting, which we are in the habit of 
considering as the most democratic of institutions. For in- 
stance, no one could vote in colonial times who did not belong 
' to the church. Religious qualifications were soon abolished, 
however, and property qualifications have almost completely 
disappeared, though in some states voters must be tax-payers. 

To-day no citizen may vote in any state who has not reached 
the age of 21. The reason for this is clear and just, but it ex- 
cludes from the suffrage about 30,000,000 young Qualifications 
citizens. Persons of unsound mind are denied the for the 
suffrage, and citizens may be disqualified by crime. 
In some states illiterates are denied the right to vote. In most 
states foreigners must have completed the process of naturaliza- 
tion before they may vote. All states require residence in the 
state and in their local districts for specified periods prior to 
voting. But with these exceptions, the suffrage is now possessed 
by practically all citizens who are 2 1 years of age or over. 

Why may an autocratic government perform more efi&cient service than 
democratic government? 

What is a "benevolent despotism"? What is a "paternaHstic govern- 
ment"? 

Why do we consider an imperfect democracy better than an efi&cient 
autocracy? 

Do you have direct or representative self-government in your community? 
Explain. 

What voluntary organizations are there in your community (such as 
business corporations, churches, clubs, etc.) that have direct self-govern- 
ment? Representative self-government? 

Does your community have representatives in state and national govern- 
ments? What are their names? How long will they be your representatives? 



440 COMMUNITY CIVICS 

Does your city or state have the initiative and referendum? If so, explain 
in detail how they are used. Give instances of the use of either. 

From your state constitution ascertain the exact qualifications for the 
suffrage in your state. 

Report on the history of woman suffrage in your state. 

Do you think any of the restrictions on the suffrage now existing in your 
state should be removed? Why? 

Do you think any further restrictions should be placed on the suffrage 
in your state? Why? 

One of the important principles upon which democratic 
government rests is that the will of the majority should control. 
Majority and It is the only arrangement that can be made with 
minority rule justice. It often happens, however, that a minority, 
and sometimes a very small minority, gains control. It also 
sometimes happens that the party in power in government, 
whether it is a majority or a minority, governs without full 
consideration for the interests of other parties or of the com- 
munity as a whole. We shall try to get some idea of how this 
happens, and also of methods proposed to prevent it; for as 
long as it happens we cannot lay claim to a full measure of 
democracy in our government. 

If the pupils of your class or school are voting on the kind of entertain- 
ment to be given, and a difference of opinion arises, can you think of a fairer 
way to decide than by a vote of the majority? 

If the majority decides the question, should the minority yield gracefully 
to the decision? Why? 

After the majority plan has been adopted, has the minority any rights 
in the matter? 

Is the majority always right in its decisions? Give illustrations to prove 
your answer. 

If your community takes a vote on the question of street improvement, 
or of granting a franchise, is it right that the majority should decide? 

If the majority rules in such a case, is it right that the citizens of the 
minority party should be taxed for the improvement as well as those of the 
majority? Why? 

If your class president is elected by a majority of the class, or your city 
mayor by a majority of the voters of the city, to what extent is it the duty of 
this officer to consider the interests of the minority which voted against him? 



HOW WE GOVERN OURSELVES 441 

Our government is a government by political parties; that 
is, political parties Control the government. Voters acting 
independently of one another cannot exercise much Political 
influence. There must be team work in political Parties 
matters as in everything else. A political party consists of 
those voters who think alike and act together on questions 
of government policy, or in electing their representatives in 
government. It is a voluntary organization, entirely outside 
of the government and not recognized in our constitutions, but 
exercising very great influence upon government. 
In his Farewell Address to the people, Washington said: 
The spirit [of party] unfortunately is inseparable from our nature, having 
its root in the strongest passions of the human mind. It exists under dif- 
ferent shapes in all governments, more or less stifled, controlled, or repressed; 
but in those of the popular form it is seen in its greatest rankness, and is 
truly their worst enemy. The alternate domination of one faction over 
another, sharpened by the spirit of revenge natural to party dissensions . . . 
is a frightful despotism. . . . The common and continual mischiefs of the 
spirit of party are sufficient to make it the interest and duty of a wise people 
to discourage and restrain it. 

As long as people differ on questions of public poHcy there are 
bound to be political parties, as Washington knew, and they 
have always played an important part in our Mischief 
government. But necessary and useful as parties of the party 
have been, the events of our history have shown ^^*"* 
that Washington's warning was exceedingly wise, the "party 
spirit" having often proved the "worst enemy" of our demo- 
cratic government. 

When some great question is before the country, like that of 
the adoption of the Constitution, or that of slavery, the people 
are usually divided into two great parties. The y^j^^ ^^ 
party that marshals the greater number of votes minority 
constitutes a majority and gains control of the **pp°s***°^ 
government The defeated minority usually accepts its de- 
feat in a sportsmanlike manner and loyally supports the 



442 COMMUNITY CIVICS 

government. Nevertheless it does not cease its opposition to 
the principles of the party in power. One of the chief values of 
the party system is that it keeps important questions in constant 
discussion. The opposition of the minority serves as a check 
upon the acts of the party in power, which is anxious to avoid 
arousing too much opposition. This is one means of control 
over the government enjoyed by the minority party. A defeated 
minority at one election may become a victorious majority at 
the next. The fact that a party is in the minority does not 
necessarily mean that it is in the wrong. 

Minorities, however, sometimes win elections. If more than 
two parties are contesting the election, which often happens, 
How minori- ^^^^ ^^^ wins which has the greatest number of 
ties may gain votes, though this number may be less than the 
combined votes of the opposing parties. No other 
arrangement seems possible. President Wilson won his first 
election by a minority vote, the opposition being divided be- 
tween Taf t and Roosevelt. 

A minority may win through better team work. There are 
always some voters who, through indifference or other causes, 
do not cast their vote. This is especially hkely to happen in 
local elections, in which there is almost never as large a vote 
cast as in the same district at a general election. It is one of the 
chief objects of a party organization to keep its members in- 
formed and interested and to see that they cast their votes. 
The party that is best organized for these purposes is very likely 
to win over its opponents even though the latter are more 
numerous. 

The organization of the national pohtical parties is very 
thorough. Each party has a managing committee in every 
Organization local district, the local organizations are united in a 
of parties and state organization, and the several state organiza- 
tions in a national organization. The shrewdest 
men the party affords are made chairmen of committees and 



HOW WE GOVERN OURSELVES 443 

chosen for other positions of leadership. Such organization 
is necessary and proper; it is only common-sense team work. 
But unfortunately it has frequently fallen into the hands of 
designing men who have used it to promote private interests 
rather than those of the public. A poHtical "boss," who is at 
the head of an inner "ring" of pohticians, often decides who 
shall be nominated for the various offices of government, leav- 
ing no choice to the voters themselves. This makes of our 
government a real autocracy, and the worst kind of an autocracy, 
because the autocrat (the "boss") acts in secret, and is in no 
way responsible to the people. It is the "frightful despotism" 
of which Washington warned his countrymen (p. 441). 

PoHtical "bosses" are often alHed with powerful business 
interests which seek legislation and governmental administra- 
tion favorable to themselves. This has given rise Government 
to the charge sometimes made that our govern- in the interest 
ment is a "plutocracy," a government of the ®^ ^ <=l^sses 
people by a small wealthy class. It is the feeling that this is so 
that has caused much of the social unrest at the present time. 

Unquestionably selfish groups representing great wealth 
have often exerted undue influence in governmental affairs with- 
out regard for the public welfare. We have seen how the public 
lands and the nation's natural resources have in some cases 
fallen into the hands of individuals and corporations to the in- 
jury of the nation and of those who want to use them for produc- 
tive purposes (see p. 373). On the other hand, men who have 
been successful in managing their private business affairs may 
also be influential in managing public affairs without necessarily 
having unworthy motives. Nevertheless, when government falls 
under the control of any particular class or group, whether it 
represents wealth, or labor, or any other interest, if it has not 
due regard for all classes, and if it denies to the members of 
other groups the voice in government to which they are enti- 
tled, it establishes a despotism and overthrows democracy. 



444 COMMUNITY CIVICS 

Why do the people submit to "boss rule"? In the first 
place, they do not always submit to it. Occasionally, when 
Why the the "bosses" go to unusual extremes, the people 

people sub- gjyg ^^^y ^q f'^^-g Qf public rage," to use the words 

rule" of former Senator Elihu Root, "in which the 

people rouse up and tear down the political leader, first of one 
party and then of the other party." It is thus possible for the 
people to escape the despotism of "boss rule." But two things 
seem to be necessary to bring it about: first, the people must be 
sufficiently interested in the management of their public affairs; 
and, second, they require leadership. It takes close attention 
to pubHc affairs to enable a citizen to make wise decisions for 
himseh; and the average citizen looks around for guidance. 
The absence of responsible leadership gives the irresponsible 
"boss" his chance. 

One difficulty encountered by the citizen who wishes to vote 
intelligently is the large number of persons to be chosen. There 
The short have been cases where the names of several hundred 
ballot candidates appeared on the same ticket. In a small 

community a voter may know personally all the candidates, 
but in larger communities this is not so. It was once thought 
that to make as many of the government offices as possible 
elective was a step in the direction of democracy, and that it 
gave the people direct control over them. But it has not 
worked out this way. It is impossible for the average voter 
to choose wisely among so many candidates, and he therefore 
falls an easy prey to "boss rule." The short ballot is now quite 
generally advocated to meet this situation. By this plan the 
number of officers to be elected is reduced, and includes only 
those who are responsible for determining the policies of govern- 
ment, such as members of legislatures and the chief executive 
officers. These few important officers and representatives are 
then made responsible for the appointment of all other subordi- 
nate officers whose business is to carry policies into effect. This 



HOW WE GOVERN OURSELVES 445 

really gives the people better control over their government by 
fixing responsibility in a few places, and is therefore no less 
democratic than the older plan. 

Do you have a long ballot or a short ballot in your city? In your state? 

How many offices in your city government are elective? How many 
of the men holding these offices do you know? Consult your parents as to 
the number of these officers they know personally. How many does your 
teacher know? 

At the next election get a copy of the ballot used in your community 
and ascertain the number of candidates for all offices, including local, state, 
and national. 

What national political parties exist at present? 

Are the voters of your local community divided into parties on local 
questions? If so, what are some of these questions? 

Investigate the organization in your county and city of the political 
party of which your father is a member. Who is chairman of its local 
committee? 

Investigate the work that a party organization does in your community 
during an election campaign; on election day; in the time between elections. 

Why is secret control over government dangerous? 

What is meant by "social unrest" (p. 443)? 

Are all men of your acquaintance equally capable of directing the affairs 
of government in office? Why? 

What is meant by "responsible" and "irresponsible" leadership (p. 444)? 

What does it mean to say that a leader must be "responsive as well as 
responsible" to the people? 

Various schemes have been adopted to insure to every voter 
a free expression of his choice for representatives, and to the 
majority their right to govern. One of these is The secret 
the secret ballot. At the polls each voter enters a ^^ot 
booth by himself to mark his ballot, or to operate the voting 
machine, and need have no fear that a possible "watcher" 
may cause him to lose his job or otherwise suffer for voting as 
he thinks best. The secret ballot also reduces the likelihood 
that votes will be bought, for there is no way of telling whether 
the man who sells his vote will vote as he has agreed; and the 
man who sells his vote is not to be trusted. The only voters 



446 COMMUNITY CIVICS 

who are embarrassed by the secret ballot are those who cannot 
read their ballots. These have to seek help, and are thus open 
to influence by agents of the ''boss." 

Another device to insure to the voter a voice in his govern- 
ment is the direct primary for the nomination of candidates for 
The direct offlce. By the older method candidates were 
primary nominated by party conventions; but under 

''boss rule" they were in reality determined upon in advance 
by the "boss," the nomination by the convention being largely 
a matter of form, the delegates voting according to instructions. 
The ordinary voter had nothing to say about it. Under the 
direct primary plan any voter possessing the necessary qualifica- 
tions for holding office may become a candidate by merely 
securing the signatures of a specified number of voters to a 
petition. Then a primary election is held at which the voters of 
each party go to the polls to express their choice for one among 
the several candidates who have been announced for each office 
to be filled. The candidates receiving the highest number of 
votes become the nominees of their party. The direct primary 
is now used quite widely throughout the United States and is 
believed to be a great improvement over the old method, though 
it does not always work as well as was expected of it. The truth 
is that any organization is open to abuse by clever people who 
wish to abuse it, and no political organization will work effec- 
tively unless the voters are intelligent and eternally vigilant. 

The President and Vice-President of the United States are 
still nominated by national party conventions. But in some 
Preferential States there are presidential preferential primaries. 
primaries These are direct primaries at which the voters 
express their preference for the presidential candidates. This is 
intended to be a guide to the nominating convention, but there 
is nothing to compel the convention to follow the guidance. 

Democratic government demands certain rights for minorities. 
We have seen how a minority party may exercise a wholesome 



HOW WE GOVERN OURSELVES ^447 

check upon the party in power by constant opposition. We 
never have a Congress or a state legislature in The right of 
which the members are all of one party. This is a minorities 
good thing, for it results in discussion and debate in the legis- 
lative body by which the people are kept informed. 

The initiative and referendum (p. 437) are also weapons in 
the hands of a minority; for, as we have seen, a small number of 
voters may compel the legislature to consider, or reconsider, any 
piece of legislation, or to submit it to the people for their decision. 
Minority parties may thus keep prominently before the people 
measures that have been adversely acted upon by the majority. 

Another device that has been introduced in some states and 

local communities is the recall of officials. By means of this a 

specified number of voters may demand that an 

The recall 
officer of the government who is displeasing to them 

be brought before the people for their vote as to whether he 

shall be removed from office or not. A small minority may 

thus call a public official to account. 

One plan strongly advocated by some students of government 

to insure to minorities an actual voice in government is that of 

proportional representation of parties in legislative pj-o^orti al 

bodies. By this plan each party would be repre- representa- 

sented in proportion to its strength. If two parties ^'^"^ °^ v^^'^^s 

were of about equal strength they would be represented equally; 

if one were twice as strong as another, it would have twice the 

representation. The plan is actually in use in very few locaHties. 

In Illinois, however, the cumulative-vote plan is in use, by which 

each voter is permitted as many votes as there are places to be 

filled, and to distribute these votes among the several candidates 

or to cast them all for one candidate. Thus, if there are three 

representatives to be elected from his district, he may give one 

vote to each of the three, or he may give three votes to one of 

them. A minority may thus, by concentrating all of their votes 

upon a single candidate, be reasonably sure of representation^. 

But it requires good team work to get this result, 



44^ COMMUNITY CIVICS 

Representation in our government is on a territorial, or geographical, basis; 

that Is, each representative represents the people in a given territory or 

district. Thus in many counties the board of supervisors is 

Di erent composed of representatives from each township, the mem- 

bases of rep- T 

resentation ^^^^ ^^ state legislatures represent districts of the state, mem- 
bers of the United States House of Representatives represent 
congressional districts in each state, and United States Senators represent 
states. 

In each district under our present system, however, the representatives 
are elected by a majority, though they are supposed to represent all the people 
when elected. If proportional representation were adopted, it would be 
necessary to increase the number of representatives from each district, in 
order that each party should have at least one. Then we should have 
representation by parties as well as by districts. 

We now hear a good deal about soviet government in Russia. The "soviet" 
is a representative body with a different basis of representation than either 
of the above. Soviet government is government by "workers" and each 
representative represents a trade or occupation. It is as if, in our country, all 
the farmers in a county, as a group, should elect their representatives to the 
board of county supervisors, all the carpenters their representatives, all the 
merchants theirs, and so on. It would be, as it is in Russia, representation by 
occupational groups, instead of by geographical districts as now. It would 
differ from proportional representation by parties, as described above, be- 
cause each political party is made up of representatives of all oc- 
cupations. Only in a few cases have political parties in our country tended 
to become identified with occupational interests, as in the case of "labor 
parties," and the old "greenback party," which was largely made up of 
farmers. 

At election time visit the nearest polling place, observe the procedure of 
voting, and report. Get sample copies of the ballot used. 

Who are the different persons on duty at the polling place, and what are 
their duties? 

Why and how do voters "register" before an election? 

Describe a primary election in your community. 

How do discussion and debate protect the rights of minorities? 

Is the "recall" used in your state? If so, what instances of its exercise 
do you know, and what were the circumstances? 

What advantages and disadvantages can you see in representation by 
occupational groups as compared with representation by geographical 
districts ? 



HOW WE GOVERN OURSELVES 449 

READINGS 

In Foerster and Pierson's American Ideals: 

Contributions of the West to democracy (F. J. Turner), pp. 72-97. 
A charter of democracy (Theodore Roosevelt), pp. 114-132. 
Can democracy be organized? (E. A. Alderman), pp. 158-174. 
The sovereignty of the people (A. de Tocqueville) , pp. 257-260. 
General tendency of the laws (A. de Tocqueville), pp. 261-266. 
The activity of the body politic (A. de Tocqueville), pp. 267-272. 
The German and the American temper (Kuno Francke), pp. 273-281. 
The "Divine Average" (G. Lowes Dickinson), pp. 282-284. 
In Long's American Patriotic Prose: 

Farewell Address (Washington), pp. 105-123. 
The independent in politics (James Russell Lowell), pp. 241-243. 
Liberty is responsibility, not license (McKinley), pp. 254-255. 
The right of the people to rule (Roosevelt), pp. 272-273. 
In Lessons in Community and National Life: 
Series A: Lesson 16, Caste in India. 

Lesson 19, Active citizenship. 
Series C: Lesson 17, Custom as a basis for law. 
Lesson 18, Cooperation through law. 
Hart, A. B., Actual Government, chaps, iv, v. 
Ashley, R. L., The New Civics (Macmillan), chaps, vi, vii. 
Reed, T. H., Form and Functions of American Government, chaps, v— viii (World 

Book Co.). 
Bryce, James, The American Commonwealth, vol. II, Part iii. The party system; ana 

Part v, chaps, xcvii— xcix. The faults and strength of democracy. 
Encyclopedia of American Government, under the several topics referred to in this 

chapter. 
Teachable Facts about Bolshevism and Sovietism, Institute for Public Service, 
SI Chambers St., New York City. 



CHAPTER XXV 

TOWNSHIP AND COUNTY GOVERNMENTS 

When the first colonists of America undertook to organize 
governments for their settlements, they naturally adopted 
Units of local forms with which they had been familiar in Eng- 
government land. There were two such forms which met their 
needs, the town, or township, and the county. These have 
remained to this day the chief units of our local government. 

Geographical conditions were such in New England that the 
colonists settled in compact communities. There the township. 
The New ^^ town, was adopted as the more convenient unit. 
England It included a central village and the neighboring 

farming region with irregular boundaries. It is 
still the unit of local government throughout rural New England, 
and in many communities that have grown to the proportion 
of cities. It has been said of the New England town govern- 
ment that it is "the fullest and most perfect example of local 
self-government either then or now in existence. . . . The 
state might fall to pieces, and the town would still supply all 
the wants of every-day government." ^ 

The chief feature of the New England town government is 
the town meeting, which is an assemblage of the voters of the 
The town town at the town hall (formerly often at the 
meeting church). It is called by the selectmen (see below) 

by means of a warrant which contains a statement of the 
business to be transacted. Reports are made by the town offi- 
cers, officers for the new year are elected, by-laws (town laws) 

* Henry Cabot Lodge, A Short History of the English Colonics in America, p. 414. 

450 



TOWNSHIP AND COUNTY GOVERNMENTS 451 

are enacted, taxes are levied and appropriations made for the 
various purposes of government. It is direct self-government 
(see page 436). 

Among the officers elected by the town meeting are the 
selectmen, varying in number from three to nine, who have 
charge of the town property and are responsible to j^^^ ^^ ^^^^ 
the town meeting for the conduct of the town's town officers 
business; a town clerk, who keeps the town records, issues 
marriage hcenses, . registers births and deaths, and performs 
other clerical services; an assessor of taxes; a treasurer; several 
constables, who have police duties, execute warrants issued 
by the selectmen and by the justices of the peace, and some- 
times act. as tax collectors; school committeemen; overseers, 
of the poor; members of the board of health and of other boards 
for public service. In some of the New England states the 
justices of the peace, who are not strictly town officers (see 
page 512), are elected by the town meeting. 

There is here given a copy of portions of a warrant for a 
special town meeting. This warrant is very brief The town 
as compared with those issued for a regular annual warrant 
meeting; but it gives an idea of the variety of business 
transacted. 

TOWN WARRANT 

Middlesex, ss. 

To Henry Atchison one of the constables of the Town of Framingham or 
to either of them, Greeting: 

In the name of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, you are hereby 

required to notify and warn the inhabitants of the Town of Framingham, 

qualified to vote in elections, and Town affairs, to meet at the Casino in 

said Framingham, on 

Wednesday, July i6th, a.d. igig 
at eight o'clock p.m. Then and there to act on the following articles, viz : 
Article i. To hear and act upon such reports of any of the officers of the 
Town or Committees of the Town as may be then and there presented, ap- 
propriate money to carry out the recommendations thereof, or any of them, 



452 COMMUNITY CIVICS 

pass any vote or take any action relative to any of said reports, or any part 
thereof. 

Art. 2. To hear and act on the report of the Committee directed to investi- 
gate school needs in the Apple Street District. . . . 

Art. 3. To see if the Town will vote to instruct the Town Treasurer to 
place to the credit of the Park Department ... for the care and mainte- 
nance of parks and playgrounds, any and all sums of money which may be 
received by him . . on account of said Department, and authorize the use 
of the same by said Department. . . . 

Art. 4. To see if the Town will grant or appropriate a sum not exceeding 
twenty-five hundred dollars ($2500) for the purchase by the tree warden 
of a new tree spraying, machine. ... 

Art. 5. To see if the Town will authorize its Board of Park Commissioners 
to sell and dispose of two of the unused schoolhouses placed in charge of the 
Park Commission some years ago. ... , 

Art. 6. To see if the Town will appropriate the sum of fifty-five hundred 
dollars ... to be expended under the direction of the following committee 
... for the purpose of selecting a site, location and erection of a temporary 
memorial tablet, and cause to be inscribed thereon the names of the Fram- 
ingham soldiers, sailors, marines . . . and nurses, who gave their lives in 
the late war. . . . 

Art. 8. To see if the Town will vote to install and maintain incandescent 
electric lights on following named streets. ... 

Art. 9. To see if the Town will vote to raise the pay of its Police Officers 
fifty cents a day. . . . 

Art. 10. To see if the Town will vote to appoint and instruct a committee 
to petition the County Commissioners to relocate Marble Street, . . . 
Art. 12. To see if the Town will vote to appropriate a sum . . . to reim- 
burse Wellington H. Pratt for expenses incurred in the construction of a 
sewer and laying of water pipes. . . . 

And you are directed to serve this warrant by posting an attested copy 
of the same at each of the Meeting Houses and Post-Offices in said Town, 
eight days at least, including two Sundays, before the time of holding said 
meeting. 

Hereof fail not, and make due return of this warrant, with your doing 
thereon, to the Town Clerk at the time and place of said meeting. 

Given under our hands this first day of July in the year of our Lord one 
thousand nine hundred and nineteen. 

(Signed by the Selectmen) 



TOWNSHIP AND COUNTY GOVERNMENTS 453 

It has been said that 

The thing most characteristic of a tovm meeting is the hvely and educat- 
ing debate; for attendants on town meeting from year to year become 
skilled in parliamentary law, and effective in sharp, quick ar- 
gument on their feet. Children and others than voters are , f, ^^^^® 

1, t , T 1 1 1 o* *he town 

allowed to be present as spectators. In every such assembly, meeting 

four or five men ordinarily do half the talking; but any- 
body has a right to make suggestions or propose amendments, and occa-, 
sionally- even a non-voter is allowed to make a statement; and the debate 
is often very effective. " ^ 

Another writer says, 

The retiring officers present their reports, which in the larger towns have 
been previously printed and distributed. Any citizen present is free to 
express any criticism or ask any question. No better method of checking 
the conduct of public officers has ever been discovered than this system of 
report in open meeting. Keen questions and sharp comment rip open and 
expose to view the true inwardness of the officers' behavior. 

At its best, the New England town meeting has never been equalled as 
a mechanism for local government. No mere representative system can 
give the opportunity, for real participation in government which a town 
meeting affords. Even the small boys who come to enjoy the fun from the 
gallery are taught that government is a living reality. By grappling first- 
hand with their own small local problems, men are trained to take part 
wisely in the bigger affairs of state and nation.^ 

Changing conditions, however, have tended to bring about 

changes in town government. In the early days the town 

meeting was a matter of great interest, and every- „, 
1111-11., 11-11 Weakening of 

body attended, mcludmg the women and children, government 

Many of the towns have now acquired larere ^^ *°^^ 

, meeting 

populations, the people are no longer acquainted 

with one another, and interest has declined. A few years ago 

it was reported that ■ 

In Brookline, Mass., with about 2500 votes cast, there are from 300 
to 500 at the business sessions. In Hyde Park, Mass., with 2500 voters . . . 

^ Albert Bushnell Hart, Actual Governmtm. p 171. 

2 Thomas H. Reed, Form and Functions of American Government, pp. 218, 220. 



454 COMMUNITY CIVICS 

from 500 to 600 attended the annual appropriation meeting. In Leominster, 
Mass., with 1400 voting, the normal attendance is about 800. 

The same writer says that 

In many places the town meeting is being undermined by the caucus, 
held beforehand, to nominate candidates for office. Here a small group 
of persons not only narrow the choice for officers, but often arrange the 
other business to be determined at the town meeting. Sometimes every- 
thing is 'cut and dried' before it comes up for popular discussion; and that 
discussion thus becomes a mere formality.^ 

This illustrates what was said in the preceding chapter (p. 
444) about the necessity for leadership and the tendency of the 
Influences people, under certain conditions, to accept self- 
leading to appointed leaders, sometimes not of the best, 
outside of the government. Conditions in large 
towns are likely to favor this. The questions that have to be 
acted upon are more complicated than formerly, and often 
involve the expenditure of large sums of money. The candi- 
dates for office are not known to many of the voters. There 
may be a considerable number of uneducated people in the town, 
and perhaps a foreign population that is unfamiliar with the 
English language and with American methods. These things 
make intelligent self-government by direct methods difficult. 

Various means have been adopted to meet these changing 

conditions. One of these is the creation of a finance committee, 

The finance before which are brought for consideration ques- 

committee a tions involvinsf the expenditure of money. This 

means of , . ... 

better committee holds hearings, at which citizens may 

service present arguments for and against proposed mea- 

sures. Thus important matters are sifted out by the committee 
which then reports to the town meeting. The town meeting 
usually votes in accordance with the recommendations of the 
committee. While this arrangement tends to secure careful 
consideration of financial measures, and to result in wise deci- 

> J. A. Fairlie, Local Government in Counties, Towns and Villages, pp 148, 155. 



TOWNSHIP AND COUNTY GOVERNMENTS 



455 



sions, provided the committee is composed of reliable men, it 
tends, on the other hand, to prevent discussion in open town 
meeting, to make the vote in the latter a mere matter of form, 
and to destroy interest in it. In other words, while it tends to 
better service, it reduces the value of the town meeting as a 
means of education for democracy. 




Advertising the Budget Exhibit in New York City 



Another arrangement that has been adopted in a good many 
towns is the town planning hoard. This is a committee which, 
after careful study of existing conditions and ten- Town 
dencies of community growth, formulates a definite pl^^^^s 
plan for the promotion of the community's interests during a 
period of years. It considers such matters as the laying out of 
new roads and streets and the improvement of old ones, the 
location of parks, playgrounds, and public buildings, the con- 
struction of sewers, water works, and lighting systems, the 
style of architecture for public buildings, the enactment of 



456 COMMUNITY CIVICS 

housing laws. It may also plan with reference to the improve- 
ment of the educational system, the promotion of public health , 
and for social needs generally. 

The town planning board is usually composed of trained men, 
such as engineers, architects, and physicians, and it may call in 
expert advisers from other communities or from the state gov- 
ernment. The advantage of having such a board is that it 
provides the town with a program of action carefully worked 
out from the point of view both of continuous community needs 
and of economy. It affords expert leadership. 

As has been said many times in these pages, government is 
the community's official organization to secure cooperation; 
Need for ^^^ ^^ ^^ effective only to the extent that the people 

citizen cooperate. It is a machine that is valuable as 

coopera ion ^^ people use it. The weakening of town govern- 
ment, or of any other government, is due largely to a lack of 
interest and of actual participation by the people. Many 
people think they have done their share toward good govern- 
ment when they have helped elect their officers and have 
paid their taxes. But when they take this view they are 
likely to lose both interest in their government and control 
over it. 

In some New England towns the decline in popular control 
of town government has been largely counterbalanced by 
Voluntary community organization for voluntary cooperation. 
community Much community service is, and probably always 
orgamza ion ^.jj ^^^ performed by private enterprise and initi- 
ative rather than by government (see p. 345); and the effi- 
ciency of government depends to a considerable extent upon 
the efficiency of voluntary enterprise. Government must have 
the cooperation of the latter, and to some extent work through 
ito In practically every community there are groups of people 
organized to cooperate for one purpose or another; but they 
are often self-centered and act independently of one another, 



TOWNSHIP AND COUNTY GOVERNMENTS 



457 



Church! 



Xlub/ 




Church ll 




VodgeK 



,^bIic5chool 



'ublic Officiate^ 



What One Community Found ^ 
Organizations self-centered 

if not actually at cross purposes. The situation that exists 
in many communities is illustrated by the chart above. 

In a good many Massachusetts towns community organiza- 
tion has been effected under the leadership of the Community 
Organization Department of the Extension Ser- Community 
vice of the State Agricultural College. The organ- ^n^Massa^-!* 
ization varies in detail in different communities chusetts 
to meet local needs, but the main features are the following: 

1 From "Mobilizing a Rural Community," by E. L. Morgan, Extension Bulletin 
No. 23, Massachusetts Agricultural College. 



458 COMMUNITY CIVICS 

First: a community council, consisting of representatives of the various 
community interests and organizations including the to\ATi oflSicials. This 
council serves at first as a sort of "steering committee" to bring the 
various interests together and to plan the organization and the work 
to be done. 

Second: community meetings, the first one of which is called by the 
community council to consider the questions: Is it possible for a com- 
munity to plan for its future development? Do we care to do it? Is it 
worth while? How can it be done? The community meeting becomes a 
sort of unofficial town meeting, and is often more largely attended than the 
official town meeting, partly because it is attended by the women of the 
community. 

Third: a number of working committees, appointed as a result of the first 
community meeting. They may include committees on farm production, 
conservation, boys' and girls' interests, farm business, community life (edu- 
cation, health, recreation, etc.). 

These committees make a study of the conditions and needs of the com- 
munity in their respective fields, and prepare plans and projects, which 
are submitted to the community meeting in due time. 

Fourth: a community program, which has been agreed upon by the com- 
munity meeting, is supervised by the community council, and is carried out 
by the various community organizations represented, including the public 
ofi&cials. 

The result is an organized community somewhat as suggested 
by the chart on page 459. 

This organization is entirely outside of the official govern- 
mental organization. It may be asked why it is necessary to 
Official and have a "community meeting" when the official 
unofficial town meeting already exists. The answer is that 

earn wor ^^ official town meeting has its work pretty defi- 
nitely cut out for it. It meets infrequently for a half-day or a 
day at a time, and its time is occupied by the voters in passing 
laws, electing officials, levying taxes, making appropriations, 
and doing other official business. The " community meeting, " 
on the other hand, is attended by non- voters as well as voters, 
the women take an active part, and the young people are re- 
presented. Many matters are discussed that could not properly 
be taken up in town meeting. 



TOWNSHIP AND COUNTY GOVERNMENTS 459 



Club 



rLirere^ry 
fdvh 



Grange) 



Womens 
Groupl 




Board of 
Tr&de 



VWomens 
yGroupIl 



Improvement 
.Associafiony 



J*ublic School Public Of fici<^l5 



What This Community Now Has ^ 
A longer term program 

A large part of the program of the community organization is 
carried out by the voluntary agencies of the community. But a 
great many of its proposals must have the approval of the official 
town meeting, require appropriations which can only be made 
by the town meeting, and are finally executed by the public 
officials of the town. The organization naturally stimulates 
interest in the official government, and brings to its support 
all the organized agencies of the community working together. 

I Adapted from "Mobilizing a Rural Community." 



460 COMMUNITY CIVICS 

The township is found as a unit of local government in many 

states outside of New England, but in most of these cases its 

T h- government is entirely representative in form. 

government While the town meeting is found in a few of these 

outside of states,^ it nowhere holds the important place that 
NewEngland . ' . ^^ ^ , , ^ ^ . ^, . . , 

it does m New England. One reason for this is the 

larger size and more scattered population of the township, 
which in the public land states is usually six miles square, 
fixed by the land survey (see page 371). At the head of 
the township government in its representative form are trustees 
(sometimes three, sometimes only one) who, with the town 
clerk, the constables, the tax assessor, the treasurer, the 
justices of the peace, and such other officers as may be required, 
are elected by the people. The powers of the township govern- 
ment outside of New England vary in different states, but are 
always quite limited, relating most commonly to the mainte- 
nance of roads, school administration, and the care of the poor. 
In these circumstances there is at least as great need for com- 
munity organization to support and supplement the work of 
government as in the New England towns. 

What services are performed by your township government? 

Make complete list of your township officers, and the duties of each. 
(Committees of pupils may interview some of the more important officers 
to get a description of their daily routine, kinds of service performed, etc. 
Also discuss with parents.) 

Look up officers of the colonial New England town that do not exist 
now, and their duties. 

What is parliamentary law? (Valuable training may be secured by 
conducting school meetings, club Meetings, or occasional regular class exer- 
cises, in accordance with parliamentary procedure.) 

Why is public discussion a check upon the conduct of persons holding 
responsible positions? 

Is popular interest in public questions keen in your community? 

If there is a finance committee in your township (p. 454), how does 

1 As in New York and New Jersey; and further west in Michigan, Wisconsin, 
Minnesota, the Dakotas, Illinois, and Nebraska. 



TOWNSfflP AND COUNTY GOVERNMENTS 46 1 

it serve the community? Does it hold hearings? (Attend and report upon 
some such hearing.) 

If there is a town planning board in your community, make a study 
of its activities. 

Is your community more like that represented by the chart on page 457, 
or by that on page 459? 

To what extent do voluntary organizations in your community co5perate 
with and through the local government? 

What is the feasibility of organizing your town (or community) by 
some such plan as that outlined on page 458. 

Discuss the value of a community "forum" as a means to good govern- 
ment. 

Procure and examine recently published official reports of your township 
government. What do these reports tell you? What is the value of such 
reports? Are the reports of your township generally read by the people of 
the township? Why? Discuss ways in which your township reports could 
be made more useful. 

The other unit of local government with which the colonists 
were familiar was the county, which in England embraced a 

number of townships. In the colonies of New 
^r 1 1 T^ 1-1 ■, -, The county 

York and Pennsylvania the county and the town- 
ship were developed together as in England; in the southern 
colonies the county was organized without the township. 
To-day the county exists in every state of the Union, in- 
cluding the New England states. In Louisiana it is called 
the parish. 

There are two main types of county government. According 
to one plan, as in New York, each township elects a represen- 
tative to a county board of supervisors, which is xypes of 
sometimes quite large. According to the other county 
plan, as in Pennsylvania, the people of the county government 
as a whole elect a small board of commissioners, the townships 
not being represented as such even when they exist. The 
board of supervisors or commissioners levies taxes and makes 
appropriations for various county purposes, such as constructing 
and maintaining roads, bridges, and county buildings, paying 
the salaries of county officers, caring for the county poor, and 



462 



COMMUNITY CIVICS 



conducting the county schools (outside of cities). It is some- 
times spoken of as the county legislative body, but it is rather 
an administrative body, its law-making powers being very slight. 
Among the important county officers are the sheriff, who is 
chief guardian of the peace in the county, has charge of the 
County jail, is the chief executive officer of the county 

officers court (see page 513), and sometimes acts as tax 

collector; the county prosecutor (also called the prosecuting 




Fairfax Courthouse, Virginia 
The monument in front commemorates the first soldier killed in the Civil War. 

attorney, the district attorney, or the state's attorney), who 
prosecutes all criminal cases in the county and represents the 
public authorities in civil suits; the county clerk, who keeps 
the county records; the register of deeds, who records all trans- 
fers of property; the coroner, who investigates the cause of 
violent and 'mysterious deaths; the tax assessor; the treasurer; 
the auditor, who examines the accounts of county officers; the 
surveyor; the school superintendent; the health officer. Some- 
times there are others. 



TOWNSHIP AND COUNTY GOVERNMENTS 463 

Although practically every citizen of the United States is also 
a citizen of a county, the people have as a rule shown surpris- 
ingly little interest in county government. As 

• . If ■1-'3-CK of 

generally found it affords a striking example of interest in 

poor service resulting from a lack of team work, county 

'^ ^ . . government 

County government has the reputation of being 

one of the weakest spots in our whole system of government. 

We seem to have got into the habit of not expecting much 
service from the county government. Where the township 
government is strong, as in New England, it -y^^ county 
takes the place of county government. Where government 
people live in cities, they look to the city govern- 
ment to serve them rather than to the county government. In 
rural districts the people have come more and more to look to 
the state and national governments for such service as they 
expect government to give. These facts might suggest the 
question whether or not we really need county government. 

One recent writer says, 

There are some parts of the country where I can see that the county 
will pass out of existence entirely in a very short time, unless it does adjust 
itself to the new conditions.^ 

The same writer says, 

Unless the county does measure up in this way, the powers of government 
and the services which it renders will have to drift away from local control 
and be placed in the hands of some government more fit and which will 
probably be further away from home. 

Students of county government attribute many of its defects 
to the ''long ballot" (see page 444). In one county in North 
Carolina, at a recent ejection, there were twenty- Effects of the 
five different candidates for county offices on each ^^^^ ballot 
of three party tickets, making seventy-five candidates among 
whom each voter had to choose. Township and state officers 

^ H. S. Gilbertson, in the University of North Carolina Record, No. 159, October, 
1918, p. 37. 



464 



COMMUNITY CIVICS 



were also elected at the same election, bringing the number of 
persons to be voted for up to about fifty out of 150 candidates. 
It is apparent that the average voter would have difl&culty in 
voting intelligently. 




Courthouse, Detroit, Mich. 

The long ballot has other results than the mere difficulty of 
intelligent voting. One of these is a government without a head. 
Government While the board of supervisors or commissioners 
is nominally at the head of the county government, 
it has to work through the various administrative 
officers. These are also elected by the people, and may be of 
the opposite political party. At all events, they are inde- 



without a 
head 



TOWNSHIP AND COUNTY GOVERNMENTS 465 

pendent of the board, not responsible to it, and may or may 
not work in harmony with it. A former member of a county 
board in North CaroUna says, 

Most persons are under the impression that the board of commissioners, 
with its chairman, is at the head of the county government .... The 
board does have authority to say how about 19 cents of the entire tax levy 
may be spent, but its authority over the balance of the levy, over any 
county official, such as the sheriff, clerk of the court, coroner, constable, 
county judge, or recorder, is nil. The chairman of the board does have the 
honor . . . of smiling and trying to look pleasant when complaints are made 
about bad roads, excessive tax assessments, or the delinquency of some 
county subordinate, over whom neither he nor the board has any control.^ 

Another result of the long ballot is the opportunity it gives 
the poHtical "boss" to control the selection of officers (see p. 
443). It is not uncommon to hear rural citizens ask rru 

, . Ine oppor- 

such questions as, "What's the use of farmers tak- tunity of the 
ing o& time for poHtics when the whole thing is run "^^^^" 
by poKtical bosses anyway? "^ ^' in such counties office-seeking 
has become not the means to the end of performing service, but 
exists for the immediate reward, and whatever service is rendered 
to the people is incidental to that other object. "^ 

Along with these defects, and largely because of them, bad 
business methods have characterized county government, re- 
sulting in poor service and wastefulness of the Bad business 
people's money. A faulty system of keeping methods 
accounts is as unbusinesslike and disastrous in pubhc business 
as in private business. 

The practice of compensating county officers from fees re- 
ceived for special services and of allowing them to The fee 
retain the interest on pubhc money is one illus- system 
tration of extravagant business methods. 

1 M. S. Willard, North Carolina Club Year Book, 1918, p. 87. 

2 Graham Taylor, in Rural Manhood, October, 1914, p. 328. 

3 H. S. Gilbertson, Forms of County Government, in the University of North 
Carolina Record, No. 159, October, 1918, p. 37. 



466 COMMUNITY CIVICS 

For many of the services performed by county officers fees are charged, 
on the principle that the person served should pay for the service. It did 
not occur to the people to inquire how much their officers were getting in 
this way. In one county, in which there was a large city, investigation 
showed that the sheriff had a net income from fees and commissions of $15,- 
000, the county treasurer $23,000, and the county auditor over $50,000.^ 

Such faulty business methods are gradually being corrected 
by the introduction of the short ballot, as in California and 
elsewhere, by businesslike methods of keeping accounts, by the 
appointment of county and state auditors, and by giving full 
publicity to reports of county business. 

"But after all," says the county official quoted above, "sl 

The fault great part of the shortcomings of county officials 

with the and a great deal of the looseness which prevails 

in the management of county affairs can be 

charged to the people themselves. " 

Another says. 

The first thing to be reformed in county government is not the officers 
down at the courthouse, but our own attitude toward the county, and par- 
ticularly toward public office. For, after all, public officers in this country 
are just what the people make them . . .2 

This is as true in cities as in rural communities, for the city 
resident is dependent on his county government for many im- 
portant services. 

There are those who advocate breaking up the county into 

smaller units for purposes of local self-government, as in New 

England. Thomas Jefferson, living in Virginia 

the local where the county was the sole unit of local gov- 

coramumty ernment, was a erreat admirer of the New England 
to the county ' , ° . , , .. i i- i • 

town meetmg, and said that public education 

and the subdivision of the counties into wards," or townships, 

1 E. C Branson, The Fee System in North Carolina, in the University of North 
Carolina Record, No. 159. October, 191 8 p. 69. 

2H, S. Gilbertson, Forms of County Government, in the University of North 
Carolina Record, No. 159, October, 191 8, p. 38. 



TOWNSHIP AND COUNTY GOVERNMENTS 467 

were the "two hooks" upon which repubhcan government must 
hang. On the other hand, there is an opposite tendency to con- 
centrate the administration of schools, roads, health, and other 
matters, in the county government (see pages 146, 189, 271). 
The fact is that both the organization for centralized, county- 
wide government, and that for the government of local 
communities within the county, have their uses. Neither can 
do its best work without the other. The problem is to deter- 
mine what the business of each should be and to establish a 
proper balance between them. One thing is sure, namely, 
that the government of the county cannot be effective unless 
the people of the various communities within the county are 
organized to cooperate both for their local interests and for the 
interests of the county as a whole. This may be provided for 
in part through township governments, where they exist, and in 
part through such unofficial organization as that described for 
the New England town (page 456). 

Another important factor in county government is the control 
exercised over it by the state. The county is not only a local 
self-governing unit, but it is also a division of the 
state for the administration of state laws. Its as a sub- 
powers of self-government are given to it by the fj^^^"^^ °^ 
state, and along with these powers it has imposed 
upon it certain duties for the state. First of all, the county is a 
state judicial district. The most important building at the 
county seat is the courthouse. The county court is one of the 
state courts described in Chapter XXVII. The county judge 
is sometimes chosen by the people of the county, but he is really 
a state officer. In New England the county is almost solely a 
judicial district, and in all states its judicial purposes are of su- 
preme importance. 

But more than this, the county schools are a part of the state 
school system and must be administered in accordance with 
state laws, though by county and township officers. County 



468 COMMUNITY CIVICS 

officers must enforce the health laws of the state. County- 
authorities not only levy and collect county taxes, but also 
collect state taxes from residents of the county. 

Here again we have an illustration of the necessity for a care- 
ful balance between matters properly subject to local self- 
jjjg government and those properly subject to state 

necessity for control. Counties have suffered both from too 
much state control in some respects, and from too 
little in others. It often happens that the citizens of one county 
pay more than their share of the state taxes because it has better 
methods of assessing and collecting taxes and of keeping ac- 
counts than other counties in the state. One of the greatest 
needs of counties, and one least provided for, is uniformity 
in methods of keeping accounts. Some states have established 
state systems of auditing county finances. 

On the other hand, state governments often interfere in 
matters that might better be left to local determination. Some 
"Home counties within a state are almost wholly rural, 

rule" for some are almost wholly urban, others are mixed 

coun les .^ character. A form of government adapted to 

one may not be suited to another. So there has arisen a demand 
for a larger degree of ''home rule" in counties. In Illinois, 
counties have had the right to determine for themselves whether 
the township should or should not be given prominence in local 
government, and whether the "supervisor" or the "commis- 
sioner" plan of government should be used. California now 
has a law which provides that counties may apply for " charters" 
in the same way that cities do in all states. The "charter," 
like a constitution, determines the form and powers of the 
government, and is framed by the people of the county them- 
selves, though it must then have the approval of the state 
legislature. 

While probably half the counties of the United States con- 
tain no city, or "town," or village of 2,500 people, there is in 



TOWNSHIP AND COUNTY GOVERNMENTS 



469 



almost every township at least one compact settlement that 
has grown up around the trading center. Sometimes there 
The growth ^^^ several of them in a township and many in a 
county. In such compact communities coopera- 
tion becomes necessary to provide for needs that 
are not felt in more rural districts, such as paved streets, sewers, 



of urban 
communities 




Courtesy The New York Public Library. 

County Election in Missouri in Early Days 

A mezzotint by John Sartain, after a painting by G. C. Bingham. The original 

painting, made in 1851-1852, hangs in the Mercantile Library, St. Louis. 

pubHc water supply, fire and police protection, and so on. 
A separate government becomes necessary. The people of 
such communities may appeal to the authorities of township, 
county, or state, for incorporation as a village, borough, town, 



470 COMMUNITY CIVICS 

or city. "Village" and "borough" are simply two names used 
in different localities for the same thing. The difference be- 
tween them and an incorporated town or city is principally 
one of size and corresponding complexity of organization. 

The chief governing body of a village, or borough, or incor- 
porated town, is a small council, or board, elected by the people. 
Government It has legislative powers in a small way, enacting 
^cwlrorateT ordinances for the regulation of local officers and in 
towns the public interest. 

In Michigan . . . they may prescribe the terms and conditions for Hcens- 
ing taverns, peddlers, and public vehicles. They have control of streets, 
bridges and public grounds; and have authority to construct bridges and 
pavements, and to regulate the use and prevent the obstruction of the high- 
ways. They may establish and maintain sewers and drains. They may 
construct and control pubhc wharves, and regulate and license ferries. They 
may establish and regulate markets. They may provide a police force and 
a fire department. They may construct or purchase and operate water 
works and hghting plants. They may own cemeteries, pubHc pounds, public 
buildings and parks.^ 

The council also has hmited power to levy taxes and to borrow 
money for public purposes. 

There is a chief executive officer, sometimes called mayor , 
sometimes president, or by other names. Subordinate to him 
are various other officers, such as the police marshal, the street 
commissioner, fire marshal, tax assessor, treasurer, clerk, and 
so on. In larger villages, boards of health and other boards 
and commissions exist to administer various forms of public 
service. The village may also have its minor court presided 
over by a justice of the peace. 

When villages or towns reach a certain population usually 
fixed by state law, they may be incorporated as cities. The 
change that takes place is simply one of elabor- city 
ating the governing machinery and giving to it Government 
larger powers to correspond with the larger needs of city Ufe. 

1 John A. Fairlie, Local Government in Counties, Towns, and Villages, pp. 207, 208. 



TOWNSHIP AND COUNTY GOVERNMENTS 47 1 

The complex organization of city government we shall study 
in the next chapter. 

How did the county in Louisiana come to be called a "parish"? 

Describe the organization and powers of your county board. 

Make a list of your county officers and their duties. 

What is the sentiment in your county with regard to the efl&ciency of 
your county government? Is the sentiment justified? 

What are some recognized defects in your county government? 

Do you have the long oif short ballot in your county? 

To what extent do the people of your county study the reports of your 
county government? (Consult at home and with older friends.) 

What do you find of interest in your county reports? 

Are reports of your county published in the newspapers? Have you 
examined them? Do you understand them? Ask your father to explain 
them to you. 

To what extent does your county board exercise control over other county 
officers? 

To what extent do the farmers of your county interest themselves in 
politics? 

To what extent do the people of your city interest themselves in county 
government? 

Report on the fee system in your county. 

How and why are public officers "just what the people make them" ? 

What is the meaning of Jefferson's remark that "public education and 
the subdivision of counties into wards are the two hooks upon which re- 
publican government must hang" (p. 466)? 

Is there too much, or too little state control of your county government? 
Explain. 

What is the differencd between a charter and a constitution? 

To what extent is there cooperation (or friction) between urban and rural 
districts in your county? 

Report on the organization of village, borough, or town government in 
your county. 

What is the difference between the "town" as referred to in the last part 
of this chapter and the "town" as described in the first part? 

How is a village or town incorporated in your state? 

READINGS 

State constitution. 

County Government and County Affairs in North Carolina, North Carolina Club 



472 COMMUNITY CIVICS 

Year Book, 191 7-19 1 8 (The University of North Carolina Record, Extension 

Series No. 30, Chapel Hill, N. C). 
County Government, Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social 

Science, vol. XLVII, May, 1913. (36th and Woodland Ave., Philadelphia.). 
Publications of the New York Short Ballot Association, 381 Fourth Ave., New 

York City. 
Fairlie, J. A., Local Government in Counties, Towns, and Villages (The Century Co.), 
Hart, A. B., Actual Government, Part iv. Local government in action. 
Reed, T. H., Form and Functions of American Government, Part iv, Local government. 
Beard, Charles A., American Government and Politics (Macmillan), chap, xxix, 

Local rural government. v 



CHAPTER XXVI 
OUR CITY GOVERNMENT 

How far have the cities of the United States been successful 
in developing "good government"? How far has our own city 
been successful in this respect? In seeking an The problem 

answer to these questions we must keep in mind of city 

. . . , . government 

the two characteristics of good government ac- 
cording to American ideas: efficient service for the people and 
effective control by the people. We have seen that government 
includes organization for both of these purposes (see p. 435). 
The development of a city government that will effectively 
provide for both has proven to be one of the most difficult 
problems that our nation has undertaken to solve. 

As in the case of township and county governments (see pp. 
450, 461), the earhest form of city government in the United 
States was modeled after the prevailing form in colonial 

England. Accordingly, the colonial American citygov- 
, „ , , •; ernment 

city, or "borough," was governed by a councii, 

consisting of a small number of "aldermen" and a larger number 
of "councillors," who all met together in one body. There was 
also a "mayor," but he was simply the presiding officer of the 
council, by which he was sometimes chosen, though sometimes 
he was appointed by the governor of the colony. Rarely was 
he elected by the people of the city. Even the council was 
often a "close corporation": that is, it was a self-perpetuating 
body, vacancies in its membership being filled by the council 
itself. This form of government could hardly be called ''pop- 
ular." 

473 



474 COMMUNITY CIVICS 

After the Revolution, changes in the form of city government 
began to take place. Until the middle of the nineteenth century, 
S remacv ^^^ council remained the most important part of 
of the city governments. In many cases it still consisted 

city counci ^^ ^ single body, but the practice became quite 
common of dividing it into an upper and a lower ''house," 
in imitation of the national Congress and of the state legis- 
latures. In further imitation of national and state governments, 
the mayor was made largely independent of the council with 
greater powers than he had enjoyed in colonial times. Never- 
theless, the chief powers of government were in the hands of 
the council. Both council and mayor were now elected by the 
vote of the people of the city. 

In the second haK of the nineteenth century one of the most 
striking changes in city government was the shifting of the 
Decline of governing powers very largely from the council 
the city in two directions : state governments assumed 

counci more and more control over cities, on the one hand, 

and on the other hand, the powers of the mayor were greatly 
increased. The council became relatively unimportant, especially 
in the larger cities. Meanwhile, there was a growth of adminis- 
trative departments subordinate to the mayor, with heads 
largely elected by the people. This form of city government 
was the prevailing one at the close of the nineteenth century, 
and still prevails in the vast majority of American cities. 

Since 1900, however, there have developed two new forms of 
city government in the United States. The first of these is the 
Commission Commission form, in which the entire governing 
form of city power of the city is placed in the hands of a ''com- 
government jnission, " or small council, usually of five members. 
One member of the commission is designated as mayor, but 
he has no real powers apart from the commission. Each 
member of the commission is placed at the head of one of 
the administrative departments of the city, but all policies 



OUR CITY GOVERNMENT 475 

of government are determined by the commission as a whole. 
The commission therefore exercises both legislative and exec- 
utive powers. It is elected by the people. 

The most recent form of city government is the city-manager 
form. In this the small commission is retained, and acts as a 
board of directors for the city, in all essential City-manager 
respects like the board of directors of a business p^*^ 
corporation. This commission appoints a city manager, who is 
like the general manager or superintendent of a business cor- 
poration. The city manager is the city's chief executive ofi&cer, 
and exercises large powers. He is responsible to the commission, 
which may remove him. Sometimes he may be ''recalled" 
by the voters of the city (see p. 447). He appoints the heads 
of the various city departments. The city-manager plan of 
city government has achieved excellent results and is becoming 
very popular in the United States. Some 150 cities have adopted 
it within the last dozen or fifteen years, though none of the 
largest cities has as yet done so. 

These various experiments in city government, which have 
been" sketched above only in the broadest outline, and which 
have involved the widest variety of details, are u^^^ ^^^ 
the result of the attempts of the people to secure conspicuous 
better service from it, better control over it, better 
team work through it. These attempts have often seemed to 
be almost in vain. A noted observer of American government,^ 
writing in the latter part of the nineteenth century, said that 
American city government was ''the one conspicuous failure" 
of American government. Let us now examine it a little more 
carefully to see what some of the problems have been, how 
they have been met, and wherein success or failure has 
crowned the ejfforts to secure team work for service in city 
government. 

^ James Bryce, an English statesman, one time British ambassador to the United 
States, and author of The American CommonweO'Uh, 



476 COMMUNITY CIVICS 

Interesting reports may be made on the conditions of living in colonial 
Boston, Philadelphia, and New York. Entertaining descriptions may be 
found in Henry Cabot Lodge's A Short History of the English Colonies in 
America (use its index). Consult your public librarian. 

What form of government has your city now? Has it always had this 
form? 

How far has the development of your city government followed the 
general course outlined in the foregoing pages? 

For more detailed study of the development of city government in the 
United States, see Readings at end of chapter. 

The first question of difficulty is that as to the extent to 
which cities should enjoy the right of local self-government. 
City's powers ^^ have seen at many points in our study how 
must be interdependent communities are, and how all local 

*™^ ^ communities, both urban and rural, are bound 

together into state and national communities (see especially 
Chapter VI). We have seen also that this interdependence has 
increased with the growth of our nation and with the develop- 
ment of better means of communication and transportation 
(Chapters XIV, XV). It follows, then, that no city should be 
permitted to ''do as it pleases," and that its powers of self- 
government must be limited in justice to all other communities 
with which it is united in state and nation. 

Review instances of this interdependence between city and rural commu- 
nities in Chapters x, xi, xiii, xv, xxii. 

As in the case of townships and counties, the right or privilege 
of local seK-government is given to cities and smaller urban corn- 
Sources of munities by the state. Cities are incorporated under 
the city's state law, like a business corporation (see p. 331), 

powers receiving a charter from the state which prescribes 

the form of government to be adopted and the powers to be 
exercised by that government. Even the powers granted by the 
charter are subject to the constitution and laws of the state: 
thus, the health ordinances of the city must be in harmony with 
the health laws of the state, and the city school system, though 



OVR CITY GOVERNMENT 477 

managed by a local board with large powers, is still a part of the 
state school system. 

Prior to the Revolution some twenty cities, or boroughs, all 
of which were in fact only small towns, had acquired charters. 
These were granted by the colonial governors, who Early city 
represented the king of England, often on request charters 
by, or with the approval of, the inhabitants of the cities. The 
colonial legislatures had nothing to do with the matter, and 
interfered very little with the city governments, which under 
the conditions of the time exercised very simple powers. After 
the Revolution, however, the charter-giving power passed to 
the state legislatures. 

As time went on, state legislatures acquired more and more 

control over cities. In early times cities did not suffer from a 

lack of seK-s:overniner power because their prob- ^ 

° ° ^ 1 1 • 1 Increasing 

lems were comparatively simple, and their charters control by 

gave them all the authority they needed. But as ?*f*® ^®S" 
^ J J islatures 

they grew in size, new and complex problems arose 
to meet which the charters did hot convey the necessary author- 
ity. We read that, as recently as 191 1, the city council of Cleve- 
land, Ohio, was without power: 

To control the use of the sub-surface of public highways as a means of 
obtaining revenue; 

To prevent disfigurement of streets by signs and advertisements; 

To regulate the architectural appearance and character of buildings 
fronting upon public highways; 

To manufacture ice for charitable distribution; 

To prevent the invasion and depreciation of residence sections by the 
location there of industrial establishments; 

To banish chickens and other noise-making animals from the city; 

To banish dogs from the city; 

To prohibit the erection and maintenance of bill-boards; 

To require the erection of gates at grade crossings; 

To require the isolation of patients afflicted with tuberculosis; 

To provide public lectures and public entertainments.^ 

1 Charles A. Beard, American City Government, p. 33. 



478 



COMMUNITY CIVICS 




Old City Hall (foreground) and New Municipal Building 
(large building in background), New York City 

This was because the charter that Cleveland had at that time 
did not expressly give to the city government the authority to 
regulate such matters. Instead of increasing the powers of city 



OUR CITY GOVERNMENT 479 

governments to enable them to deal with new conditions, state 
legislatures themselves assumed the responsibility of regulat- 
ing the affairs of cities in more and more detail. As one writer 
says, 

State legislatures have acquired the habit, which has in some cases de- 
veloped into a vice, of enacting into laws all manner of limitations upon 
municipal independence, and this not only without the advice and consent 
of the municipalities concerned, but often in direct contravention of their 
interests and wishes.^ 

One of the first steps taken to check the interference by state 
legislatures with the self-government of cities was the introduc- 
tion of a provision in some of the state constitutions . ^ 

^ -11 Attempts to 

forbidding legislatures to enact special charters check leg- 

and laws for individual cities, a practice that was fsiative 

' ^ interference 

very common and led to endless tampering with 

city government. But uniform legislation for all the cities of a 
state was found also to work grave injustice. " Must the legis- 
lation for a great commercial and manufacturing city with a 
population of more than a million be regulated by the wants 
and necessities of an inland city of 10,000 inhabitants?" asked 
a Pennsylvania court. So the plan was adopted in some states 
of grouping the cities in classes according to population, with a 
view to securing appropriate legislation at least for each class. 
But in Ohio, for example, while the cities of the state were ar- 
ranged in eleven classes, eight of these were made to contain but 
one city each,^ the legislature thus evading the purpose of the 
law and continuing with much special legislation. 

Thus there was experimenting with one plan after another to 
check the interference with city government by state legis- 
latures. But in no case did a city have an actual "Home rule" 
voice in framing its own government, or in de- ^^^ ^^**®^ 
termining its own powers until, in 1875, Missouri provided in her 

1 W. B. Munro, Government of American Cities, p. 72. 

2 w. B. Munro, Government of American Cities, p. 55. 



480 COMMUNITY CIVICS 

constitution that cities of more than 100,000 population might 
frame their own charters. Two or three other states followed 
Missouri's example before the end of the last century, and a 
number of others have adopted the plan since 1900. 

The extent to which ''home rule" for cities is carried varies 
in different states. In some states the privilege is extended 
only to the larger cities, in others to all. In a few states, as in 
Massachusetts and New York, a city may choose for itself 
one of several forms of government prescribed in the state law. 
In other states cities may draft their own charters. In two or 
three states the cfiarter must have the approval of the governor 
of the state as well as that of a majority of the voters of the 
city, and in California it must be approved by the state legis- 
lature. The charter is drafted by a commission of from thirteen 
to twenty-one members elected by the voters of the city, ex- 
cept that in Minnesota it is appointed by the district court. 
Home rule gives to cities the right, not only to determine 
their own form of government, but also to exercise all powers 

over local affairs that are not in conflict with the 
ests must constitution and general laws of the state; for the 
be safe- interests of the state community, and of all other 

communities within its borders, must be safe- 
guarded. Some powers are therefore expressly denied to cities 
by the state constitution. In doubtful cases it becomes the 
responsibility of the courts to decide as between the powers of 
the city and those of the state. The balance between the in- 
terests of the local community and those of the state is a delicate 
one. 

,The tendency at present is to increase the city's powers of 
state admin- Self -government, while at the same time to increase 
istrative the supervision of city governments by state ad- 

supervision ministrative authorities. For example, 

In New York a state civil-service commission supervises the work of the 
civil-service boards maintained by cities, and holds them to a strict con- 



OUR CITY GOVERNMENT 481 

formance with the law. ... In New York, Wisconsin, and other states, 
public-utilities commissions adjust the relations between the cities and the 
public-service corporations. By state boards of health and boards of edu- 
cation many states have increased the strictness of their administrative 
control over the corresponding municipal activities. In at least a few 
states the statistical and accounting departments of state governments 
have enforced progress in the direction of uniform municipal book-keeping.'^ 

This administrative supervision of cities is very different from 
the legislative control of which we have been speaking. 

Administrative control is in every way preferable to that factious in- 
terference with local autonomy [self-government] which we call legislative 
supervision. It is supervision by experts, and hence is based upon knowledge, 
not upon caprice; it is consistent in policy; it does not give unnecessary 
affront to local self-respect; and it is effective in doing what it sets out to 
do. The substitution of administrative for legislative supervision — that 
is to say, of supervision by responsible boards of trained men rather than 
by the desultory action of legislatures — would be an influential factor in 
improving the relations of the city to the state, and would thereby have 
a beneficial reaction upon the affairs of the city itself .2 

It will be observed that this latest stage in the development 
of city government marks a step in the direction of better 
service as well as in the direction of better control ^j^^ g^ 
over their government by the people of the city, for better 



service 



• 



As a matter of fact, the steps looking to better 
service and those looking to better control have been closely 
related all the way along. One of the main reasons why state 
legislatures acquired so much control over cities was because 
city governments were giving very poor service during the 
major part of the nineteenth century. Cities lost their powers 
of self-government because they did not govern themselves well 
through their own organizations. But in losing their powers of 
self-government the cities did not gain the expected improve- 
ment in service. Even if state legislatures had been better in- 
tentioned than city councils, the remoteness and unfamiliarity 

* W. B. Munro, Government of American Cities, p. 74. 
2 W. B. Munro, Government of American Cities, p. 76. 



482 COMMUNITY CIVICS 

of most of their members with the peculiar problems of cities 
unfitted them to govern cities well; and they were not always 
well-intentioned toward cities. This accounts for the swing 
back toward ''home rule, " with its final accomplishment in some 
states. It also accounts for the transfer from state legislatures 
to state administrative departments of a large part of the control 
over cities still remaining to the states. Another thing that this 
transfer emphasizes is the necessity for trained leadership in the 
affairs of government, as suggested in the last quotation above. 

When was your present city charter adopted? By whom was it drafted? 
How was it adopted? 

What is meant by the "corporate limits" of your city? 

What powers are denied to your city government by your state consti- 
tution? For what reasons are they denied? 

Are the cities of your state grouped in classes for purposes of state con- 
trol? If so, how are they grouped? What other cities are in the same class 
with your city? 

What examples can you give of control over your city by state laws? 
Is there any feeling in your city that the state legislature interferes in its 
management to too great an extent? If so in what particulars? 

If the cities of your state enjoy "home rule," by what procedure may the 
charter of your city be changed? 

If the cities of your state do not enjoy "home rule," is there any marked 
sentiment in favor of it? Consult your father. 

• Give examples of control over your city government by state adminis- 
trative boards or ofl&cers. 

What control does your state exercise over city elections? Why should 
the state exercise such control? 

What control is exercised by your state over public utilities in your city? 
How is this control exercised? What is the reason for it? 

Give examples from earlier chapters to show the necessity for state con- 
trol over health, education, charities, crime, in your city. 

Discuss the second quotation on page 481 (from W. B. Munro's Govern- 
ment of American Cities) until you are sure you know what it means. 

To what extent do the great national political parties enter into the 
control of your city elections? Report on the organization of one of these 
parties in your city. Show how control of city politics by national political 
parties is antagonistic to "home rule." See Munro, Government of Ameri- 
can Cities, chap, vii.) 



OUR CITY GOVERNMENT 483 

Home rule in cities means little, however, unless they have a 
form of government that insures good service and effective con- 
trol by tbe people. 

We have seen that the principal governing body in American 
cities during the first half of the nineteenth century, and in 
many cities much later than that, was the city Control over 
council. Its members were elected by popular "*y council 
vote, those citizens having the suffrage in city elections, as a 
rule, who possessed it for state and national elections (see pages 
438, 439). In most cases, council members were elected by 
*' wards," so that each section of the city might have direct 
representation; but some members might be elected ''at large." 
Theoretically this election by the people gave them control over 
the council; but in practice cities became hotbeds of corrupt 
politics, ''bossism," and domination by public service corpora- 
tions and other business interests (see pp. 443,444), and the 
people often had very little control over their so-called repre- 
sentatives. ^ 

In many instances the council was divided into an upper and a 
lower chamber, the theory being that each chamber would act 
as a check upon the other, and thus reduce the likelihood of 
improper legislation (see pp. 501, 549). In practice this seldom 
seemed to have any other effect than to delay legislation. 
There was a decided tendency to get back to the single- 
chambered council. 

During the period of the council's supremacy it acted both as 
a legislative and an administrative body. For the adminis- 
tration of the city's affairs, such as police, fire, and ^^ 

, -^ ' ^ . 1 . The council' 

health protection, the council was organized into as a per- 

committees. At the best, it was rare that this former of 

. •11-1 service 

system gave the best service, especially m the 

larger cities, because the' committees would be composed of 

average men from all walks of life, without special training 

or experience for the work they had to do. At the worst, council 



4S4 COMMUNITY CIVICS 

committees fell under the influence of corrupt politicians, or of 
corrupt business concerns holding or seeking contracts with the 
city. Conditions then became about as bad as possible. 

This led to a change in two directions: the council lost to 
the state legislature, as we have seen, much of its law-making 
Ma or form power, and to the mayor and to new administra- 
of city gov- tive departments practically all of its adminis- 
ernment trative powers. The mayor and the administrative 

departments became the chief elements of the city government. 
The resulting form of *' mayor government" still prevails in the 
vast majority of American cities, and was a long step in the direc- 
tion of both better service and more effective popular control. 

The mayor, like the council, is elected by popular vote. While 
his election may be determined by "bossism" and corrupt 
The mayor's influences, it is nevertheless easier to hold one man 
powers responsible for his acts than it is a large body of 

men. The mayor, formerly little more than the presiding officer 
of the council, now acquired a more independent position. He 
also acquired the power to ''veto" ordinances passed by the 
council, and otherwise to influence legislation — by his messages 
to the council, by appeals to the people, and often because of his 
leadership in the party in power. He further acquired the power, 
formerly enjoyed by the council, of appointing many city officers 
and employees, sometimes even the heads of the administrative 
departments. The last-named power, if exercised wisely, made 
it possible, at least, to secure more expert leadership in the 
service organization of the government. 

^ One of the chief weaknesses of this system, however, is that 
the people, in their desire to retain control, insisted, in many 
Administra- cases, on electing the heads of the administrative 
tive depart- departments. This not only lessens the probability 
ments ^£ gg^^^j-jj^g expert leadership in these departments, 

but it also makes their heads independent of the mayor, scatter- 
ing responsibility instead of concentrating it in one place. 



OUR CITY GOVERNMENT 485 

The mayor form of government was further weakened, as 
we have seen, by lack of authority to do many things most 
needed by cities. This was in large measure corrected in states 
where "home rule" was accorded to cities, and when state 
control over cities was transferred from legislatures to state 
administrative departments or officers (see above, p. 480). 

One thing that greatly increased the efficiency of city gov- 
ernment was the reform of the civil service which occurred in 
many cities. The routine work of a city govern- The civil 
ment requires the services of a large number of service 
employees. During the evibdays of city government, employees 
were commonly appointed, first by the city council and later 
by the mayor, not because of any proper qualifications for the 
work that they had to do, biit as a reward for partisan service, 
or to please some faction or private interest that was influential 
in municipal politics. In many cities the civil service has now 
been placed on a merit basis, candidates for appointment being 
required to pass competitive examinations to test their quali- 
fications for the positions to be filled. Some of the larger cities 
have civil service commissions to supervise this matter. 

The most radical change in the form of city government that 

has occurred in our long struggle for better government was that 

which took place with the introduction of the Experiment 

commission form (see p. 474). The first experiment ^^*^ *?® . 

•' . . . commission 

with this was tried in Galveston, Texas, in 1901, form of 

after that city had been partially destroyed by a government 
great tidal wave. Before this, Galveston is said to have been '^ one 
(/ the worst-governed urban communities in the whole country."^ 
The disaster to the city aroused the people to the necessity for 
the most efficient management possible in the work of recon- 
struction. A commission of five business men was therefore 
chosen to take over the entire responsibility of government, the 
legislature having given the requisite authority in the emergency. 

1 W. B. Munro, Govervment oj American CUks, p. 295. 



486 COMMUNITY CIVICS 

The Galveston plan was at first looked upon as a temporary, 
emergency government. But it worked so well, placing the 
city's affairs in a short time in far better condition than they 
had been before the Hood, that it was not only made permanent, 
but other cities in Texas asked and obtained similar charters. 
Later the plan was adopted by cities in other states. 

The commission plan is in reality a return to the early form of 

government by a council, but with important differences. The 

council, or commission, is much smaller than in the 
Popular con- ,. . i • i i i i i • i 

troi under the earlier form, and is chosen by methods designed to 

commission secure thoroughly qualified men. As the plan was 

extended to other cities, as in Des Moines, Iowa, 

the use of the initiative, the referendum, and the recall (see 

pp. 437, 447) became an essential part of the plan, thus securing 

a high degree of popular control over the commission. 

The commission form of government bids fair, however, to 

be superseded by the city-manager plait (see p. 475). In this, 

as we have seen, the commission becomes in all re- 
Features 
of the city- spccts like a board of directors, determining policies 

manager ^^^^ employing a general manager in whom is fixed 

complete responsibility for the administration of 
the city's business and the execution of the laws. The city- 
manager plan retains all the features of the commission plan 
that insure popular control, while going further in placing re- 
sponsibility for service in expert leaders. 

The National Municipal League, an organization for the 
promotion of better city government, has issued 
the city- a little pamphlet containing ''The Story of the 

manager City-Manager Plan: The Most Democratic Form 

of Municipal Government." In this the follow- 
ing statements are made: 

No city which has tried this plan has gone back to the old way. 
The plan spreads fastest in regions which know most about it. For ex- 
ample, it was adopted in Dayton in 1913 and has spread rapidly over Ohio 



OUR CITY GOVERNMENT 487 

and now twelve cities of that state have it. It got an early start in three 
small cities in Michigan in 1914 and now twenty-four places all over Michi- 
gan have adopted it. Likewise in Texas (seventeen cities) and in Virginia, 
where it governs one-fifth of the population of the state. 

Numerous investigations, not always friendly at the start, have been 
made, and the reports have been invariably favorable. 

Four out of every five new charters now follow the city-manager plan. 

The "Model Charter," drafted for the Municipal League by an eminent 
and well-informed committee, is a city-manager charter. 

Political sfcientists without exception consider it the best form, and col- 
lege political science courses teach it as accepted doctrine. 

The city-manager plan has not entirely escaped criticism. 

The principal argument against it is that it is "undemocratic," 

because it reposes all governing power in the hands 

of so few people. This criticism comes for the most under the 

part from old-time ''politicians," who see their city-manager 

. . plan 

hold upon the governing machinery being loosened. 

It is well to recall what "democracy" means. It means two 
things: first, government in the interest of all the people alike, 
without favor or discrimination; second, government over 
which the people themselves have effectual control (see pp. 9, 
49, 50). There is no question that city -manager government has 
so far proved more successful than any other that has been 
tried in enabling the community to hold the government ac- 
countable for its acts. So far as experience goes, also, city- 
manager government has been remarkably successful in the 
amount and quality of service rendered, and in the economy 
with which it has been performed. 

One of the best-known examples of government by the city- 
manager plan is that of Dayton, Ohio. Following ^j^^ experi- 
is a resume of service rendered to the people of ence of 
Dayton in the seven years since the plan was *^ °" 
adopted there: ^ 

1 From "The Story of the City -Manager Plan," National Municipal League, 
261 Broadway, New York. 



488 COMMUNITY CIVICS 

It "reduced the death rate and infant mortality; inaugurated free nursing, 
medical service and clinics, and extended food inspection; passed pasteuri- 
zation ordinance; eliminated seven thousand dry vaults; substituted cor- 
rection farm for work house; abolished prison contract labor; established 
parole system; enlarged summer and winter recreation program; super- 
vised over five thousand vacant lot, home, school, and boys' and girls' 
gardens, furnishing free seed; increased park area from twenty to five 
hundred and forty-one acres; increased public charities; inaugurated free 
legal aid bureau handling one thousand cases a year; eliminated eleven 
loan shark companies; operated free employment bureau for women; re- 
organized police and fire departments; established training schools; or- 
ganized crime prevention bureau and juvenile police; employed police 
women; motorized all fire apparatus; passed building code and provided 
inspection of buildings, sanitation and smoke prevention; established eight- 
hour day for all city labor; constructed self-supporting garbage disposal 
plant; bought water supply and lands for $67,000 as against an earlier bid 
four times as high and gave abundant supply for the first time; operated a 
municipal garage; saved several hundred thousand dollars per year to gas 
consumers by securing universal natural gas at 34 cents instead of artificial 
gas at 85 cents; contracted for better street lighting at lower rates despite 
modern costs; provided adequate budget procedure; reduced floating debt 
from $125,000 to $50,000 the first year; put civil service on honest basis; pro- 
vided annual audit of accounts; publicity on all city matters; appointed 
city plan commission and numerous other citizen advisory boards; fostered 
a civic music league; published 35,000 annual reports, annually distributing 
same to all homes. " 

As a further example of economy under this plan, Wheeling, 
W. Va., is reported as having 

And of saved $12,000 by combining jobs .... Gave city new 

ee ing, electric light system without extra cost. Negotiated new 

contracts that saved the city $9,500 on gas and $20,000 on 
electricity per year. Made the traction company pay half the cost of two 
new bridges. Discovered old government had signed away city's rights in a 
telephone merger, started suit and recovered cash and privileges worth 
$110,000. Sold old city gas plant to good advantage. Defeated street rail- 
road fare increase by proving over-valuation. 

It is too soon to tell whether or not the city-manager plan 
will continue to meet the severe tests that modern city life im- 
poses upon city governments, or whether it is to be the pre- 



OUR CITY GOVERNMENT 489 

vailing form of city government in the future. So far, none of 
our largest cities has tried it. The largest city to have adopted 
the plan by the opening of 1921 was Akron, Ohio, Government 
with a population of 208,000. Our largest city, New of New York 
York, has long had a modified form of "mayor *^ 
government," that has some points of similarity to the com- 
mission form. In that city there is a large ''board of aldermen" 
which has lost most of its powers. There is a mayor with con- 
siderable powers, and many administrative departments whose 
heads are for the most part appointed by the mayor. But some 
of the most important powers of government have been placed 
in the hands of a hoard of estimate and apportionment, consisting 
of the mayor, the city comptroller (financial officer), the presi- 
dent of the board of aldermen, and the presidents of the five 
boroughs of which New York City is composed (see p. 64). 
This board has some of the characters of a "commission," and 
exercises large powers over the city's financial affairs. 

The city of Washington is governed by a commission of 
three men. There is no mayor, no city council, and no city 
manager. This looks like the commission form of The city of 
government. But the three commissioners are Washington 
appointed by the President of the United States, and Congress 
acts as a city council for Washington. Washington has no city 
government in any real sense. It is but a part of the District 
of Columbia, and its government is that of the District. The 
inhabitants of the city have no voice whatever in the man- 
agement of its affairs. It is governed rather as a department 
of the national government. Half the cost of the government 
of Washington is met by taxation of the residents of the city; 
the other half is paid from national funds. 

There is reason to feel assured that substantial progress has 
been made in our country toward a form of city government 
that will satisfy the demands of democracy. It is well to re- 
member, however, that no form of government will produce 



490 COMMUNITY CIVICS 

the best results without intelligent and loyal support from the 
people all the time. With such support, good results may often 
be achieved even with a defective form of government. Intelli- 
gent and right-minded citizenship is essential to good city 
government under whatever form. 

If you do not have the "commission" or "city-manager" form of govern- 
ment in your city: 

Which is the more influential in your city affairs, the mayor, or the city 
council? Prove your answer. 

Just what powers does your city council have? 

Just what powers does your mayor have? 

Describe the organization of your city council. How are its members 
elected? Is it a single-chambered, or a two-chambered body? If the latter, 
what is the difference in pov/ers of the two chambers? 

How is your mayor elected? What is his term of ofi&ce? Who is your 
present mayor? 

What administrative departments are there in your city government? 
How are the heads of these departments chosen? What are the duties of 
each department? What control over them does the mayor exercise? 

What past experience and training has the head of each administrative 
department in your city had to fit him for the position he holds? 

What kind of showing does your city make in comparison with that of 
Dayton as described on page 488 above? 

Look up carefully the "commission" and "city-manager" plans of 
government, and report on important features not described in this chapter, 
especially with reference to means of control by the people and to expert 
leadership for service. (See Readings, below.) 

What arguments can you present for and against the adoption of the 
city-manager or commission form of government in your city? 

If your cityAa^ the "commission" or "city-manager" plan of government: 

Report on the circumstances under which it was adopted. Also, on the 
method by which it was adopted. 

Is there still opposition to its continuance? If so, on what grounds? 
What changes in detail are spoken of as desirable? 

Just what powers does the commission (or council) have? The city 
manager? 

How is the city manager controlled? Who is he? Where did he come 
from? What training had he had for his work? How may he be put out of 
ofiice, and under what circumstances? 



OUR CITY GOVERNMENT 49 1 

What administrative departments are there? "Who are in charge of 
them? How are these heads chosen? 

How are the employees of your city government (the civil service) se- 
lected and appointed? 

In employing labor to do the city's work (such as street cleaning, garbage 
collection, street construction, etc.) is it better for the city to employ it 
directly, or through contractors? Why? (For a discussion of this, see Beard, 
American City Government, pp. 120— 128.) 

Does your city have a budget system (see pages 510, 544)? If so, who 
prepares the budget estimate? Who has the final word in determining the 
budget? Who makes appropriations for expenditures? 

Does your city have a "budget exhibit"? What is meant by this? Look 
up the subject of budget exhibits and their value. (See Beard, American 
City Government, pp. 150-152.) 

Is there a Bureau of Municipal Research in your city? Report on the 
work of such bureaus in other cities. Obtain literature from such bureaus 
and study it. (Write to the Bureau of Municipal Research of New York 
City, or that of Philadelphia, or that of some other city that you know has 
one, for literature.) 

What voluntary citizen associations exist in your city in the interest of 
better government? 

READINGS 

Your state constitution. 

Your city chapter. 

Annual reports of your city government and its several departments. 

Lessons in Community and National Life: 

Series A, Lesson 19: "Active citizenship." 

" B, " 19: "The commission form of city government and the city 
manager." 
Beard, Charles A., American City Government (Century Co.): 
Chapter ii — ^Home rule 

" iv — Municipal government and administration 

" V — Raising and spending the city's money 

" vi — Guarding the city against vice and crime 

" vii — ^Franchises and public' utilities 
Munro, W. B., I'he Government of American Cities (Macmillan): 
Chapter i — American municipal development 

" iii — ^The city and the state 

" iv — Municipal powers and responsibilities 

" vii — Municipal parties and politics 

" viii — The city council 

" ix — ^The mayor 



492 COMMUNITY CIVICS 

Chapter x — The administrative departments 
" xi — Municipal officials and employees 
" xii — City government by a commission 
" XV — The city-manager plan 

Bruere, Henry, The New City Government (Appleton). This is a study of the com- 
mission form of government based on a survey of ten cities. 

Rightor, Chester E., City Manager in Dayton (Macmillan). This is probably the 
best book to give a clear picture of the workings of this form of government. 

The Story of the City-Manager Plan. This small pamphlet published by the National 
Municipal League (261 Broadway, New York City) gives a brief, clear state- 
ment of the organization and development of the city-manager plan, with a 
list of the cities using it at the time of publication. Price, 10 cents. 

Woodruff, Clinton Rogers, A New Municipal Program (Appleton). This book 
presents the city-manager plan, and contains the complete text of the " Model 
City Charter" for this form of government prepared by a committee of the 
National Municipal League. 

Bryce, James, The American Commonwealth (Macmillan), vol. i, chaps. 50—52. 
A very fine description of the council-mayor type of city government. 

The National Municipal Review is the best magazine for current information re- 
garding every phase of city government. 261 Broadway, New York City. 

The American City (magazine) contains valuable material in every issue. 154 
Nassa^a St., New York City. 

Municipal Year Book of the City of New York. Municipal Reference Library, New 
York City. Your local public library will probably have a copy of this. It is the 
best source of information regarding the government of the City of New York. 



CHAPTER XXVII 
OUR STATE GOVERNMENTS 

When the thirteen original states were colonies, they derived 

their governing powers from charters granted to them by the 

king, as cities and some counties are granted char- source of 

ters bv the state. When they won their inde-" governing 

, . J power 

pendence the people of each state substituted a 

constitution for the charter; the difference between a charter 

and a constitution being that the former is given to the people 

by some higher authority, while the latter is adopted hy the 

people themselves. All of our states alike, whether created 

before or after the Union was formed, are self-governing under 

constitutions of their own making. 

Counties and towns, cities and villages, have no powers of 
self-government except those granted to them, hy the state. The 
national government, also, may exercise only such powers as 
are given to it by the people voting as states. Each state, on the 
other hand, is self-governing in its own right, and may exercise 
through its government any power whatever, excepting only 
those which it voluntarily surrendered upon entering the 
Union. (See pp. 519, 523; also Constitution, Art. I, sec. 10, and 
Art. IV.) 

The state constitution is the supreme law of the state and is 
supposed to represent the direct voice of the people. Since 
the Union was formed, state constitutions have The state 
been framed by conventions of delegates elected constitution 
especially for the purpose, and in most cases have been sub- 
mitted to the people for their ratification. Amendments may 

493 



494 COMMUNITY CIVICS 

be proposed either by such conventions or by the state legis- 
latures, but they must also be ratified by the people. Some 
of the states have completely revised their constitutions several 
times, and amendments have been very numerous. 

State constitutions are long documents, containing a great 
deal of detail regarding the organization and powers of govern- 
ment. In this respect they differ from the national 
Cause of ..... 

length of Constitution, whij^h is brief and speaks in broad, 

state con- greneral terms. Recent constitutions are longer 
stitutions ^ . . ^ 

than earlier ones, partly because there is a greater 

variety of problems to be dealt with, but also because of a 
growing tendency to limit the powers of legislatures and admin- 
istrative officers. 

After a declaration of rights, which all state constitutions 
contain, the constitution is concerned chiefly with the organi- 
A republican nation, powers and duties of the government. Each 
form of state may organize its government as it sees fit, 

governmen provided Only that it is ''republican" in form as 
required by the federal Constitution (Art. IV, sec. 4). This 
means that it must be a form of representative self-government. 

While the state governments differ from one another in 
matters of detail, the general plan is the same in all. Each 
Separation consists of three branches: the legislative branch 
of powers f^j. \^^ making; the executive branch for law 
enforcement and administration; and the judicial branch for 
the interpretation of the laws and for the administration of 
justice in accordance with the law. These three branches are 
organized on the principle of a separation of powers, to prevent 
encroachment by one upon the powers of the others, and to 
make each a check upon the powers of the others. 

In the government of this commonwealth, the legislative department 
shall never exercise the executive and judicial powers, or either of them; 
the executive shall never exercise the legislative and judicial powers, or 
either of them; the judicial shall never exercise the legislative and executive 



OUR STATE GOVERNMENTS ' ' 495 

powers, or either of them; to the end it may be a government of laws, and 
not of men. (Constitutionof Massachusetts, Parti, Art. XXX.) 

Investigate and report on: 

The meaning of "a government of laws, and not of men." 

The entrance of your state into the Union. 

The history of your present state constitution. 

The powers surrendered by your state when it entered the Union. 

The length of your state constitution as compared with that of the 
federal Constitution. 

The principal parts of which your constitution is composed. 

Number of amendments to your state constitution. When the latest 
amendments were adopted and why. 

The declaration of rights in your state constitution. 

Checks exercised by the legislature upon the executive and judicial 
branches; by the executive upon the legislative and judicial branches; 
by the judicial upon the legislative and executive branches. 

The chief executive ofhcer of the state is the governor, who is 
elected by the people for a term which varies, in the different 
states, from one to four years. It is his duty to see ^, 
that the laws of the state are faithfully executed. 
The constitution makes him the commander-in-chief of the 
state militia, which he may call upon to enforce the laws or to 
quell disorders. It also gives him the power to pardon persons 
convicted of crime, in the exercise of which power he is some- 
times assisted by a special board of pardons and sometimes by 
the legislature; but the consideration of the pleas of such persons 
and their friends for pardon often consumes a large portion of 
his time. 

A great deal of the govenor's time is also taken up with 
duties devolving upon him as the official representative of the 
state on ceremonial occasions, as in the laying of -^j^^ _ 
corner-stones of public buildings, attending state emor's 

r- J !•• T_i 1 J. ^^^^ varied duties 

fairs, and making innumerable speeches at public 

meetings of all kinds. By virtue of his office he is also a member 

of many boards and commissions whose meetings he must attend. 



496 



COMMUNITY CIVICS 



The governor also has some part in law making. In all 
states except North Carolina he has the power to veto bills 
The gov- passed by the legislature. This check upon the 
ernor's part in legislature is not absolute, for the legislature may 
aw ma ng overcome the governor's veto by again passing the 
bill, usually by a two-thirds vote. The governor may also in- 




State Capitol of Minnesota at St. Paul 



fluence legislation by means of his messages to the legislature 
in which he recommends measures which he believes should be 
enacted into law. In case of opposition by the legislature, the 
governor often carries his proposals directly to the people, who 
quickly make known whether or not they support him. The 
governor may call special sessions of the legislature to consider 
measures of especial importance. 

The governor is a more influential ofhcer to-day than he was 
in the early part of our history. In colonial times he was the 
Growing in- direct representative of the king, or of the colonial 
fluence of the proprietor, and the people sought in every way to 
governor limit his powers. After the colonies became states 

this habitual fear of the governor continued, and he was placed 



OUR STATE GOVERNMENTS 497 

under the control of the legislature. As time went on, however, 
the legislature fell under the suspicion of the people, while the 
governor was more and more looked to as their leader. Thus, 
for example, the veto power was given to him, increasing his 
influence while it curbed that of the legislature. 

But the power and influence of the governor are by no means 
as great in relation to state government as are the powers of the 
President in relation to the national government. Weakness of 
In fact, the executive branch of our state govern- the state 
ments has been notoriously weak, and its weakness ^"^^^^^"^^ 
is of the same kind as that of county and city governments: 
the lack of an effective, responsible head (see pp. 464, 484). 

In our national government the executive power is concen- 
trated in the hands of one man. State constitutions seem to 
confer the same powers upon the governor. The 
constitution of Indiana says, "The executive of^SatTwlth 
powers of the State shall be vested in a Governor; " national 
and that of Pennsylvania says, "The supreme ^^^^^ ^* 
executive power shall be vested in the Governor." But the 
Pennsylvania constitution also says, "The executive depart- 
ment shall consist of a Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Secre- 
tary of the Commonwealth, Attorney General, Auditor General, 
State Treasurer, Secretary of Internal Affairs and a Superin- 
tendent of Public Instruction" (Art. IV, sec. i). Four of these 
officers besides the governor are elected by the people. 

In all states the governor "shall take care that the laws be 
faithfully executed" (Pennsylvania constitution). 
For the execution of the laws, however, he is de- co^^itS?^ 
pendent not only upon a number of principal ex- of adminis- 

ecutive officers such as those named above, but also ^^S*"^® 

' omces 

upon a large number of less important administra- 
tive ofl&cers. Governor Lowden, of Illinois, a few years ago said: 

Administrative agencies have been multiplied in bewildering confusion. 
They have been created without reference to their ability economically and 



498 COMMUNITY CIVICS 

effectively to administer the laws. Separate boards govern the peniten- 
tiaries, the reformatories, and the educational institutions. Several boards 
and commissions have charge of matters affecting the agricultural interests. 
Administration of laws affecting labor is parceled out among numerous 
agencies, including several boards having jurisdiction of mining problems 
and several free employment agencies, each independent of the other. Our 
finance administration is chaotic, illogical and confused. 

The administration of the health laws is divided between boards and 
commissions, with no elective means of coordination. Our educational 
agencies are not harmonious. Over one hundred of&cers, boards, agencies, 
commissions, institutions and departments are charged with the adminis- 
tration of our laws. No systematic organization exists, and no adequate 
control can be exercised. . . . Under the present system . . . the governor 
cannot exercise the supervision and control which the people have a right to 
demand. (Charles E. Woodward, "The Illinois Civil Administrative Code," 
reprinted from Proceedings, Academy of Political Science, July, 1918.) 

This condition of affairs is characteristic of state governments 

generally. Some of the numerous officers are appointed by the 

governor, but many of them are elected by the 

lacks power to people or appointed by the legislature. Their 

meet his re- terms of office do not coincide with that of the 
sponsibilities 

governor, so that he finds m office many persons 

whom he did not appoint, and whom he cannot remove. Often 
they may be of an opposite political party. Thus the very 
organization of the state executive department is such as to 
make it impossible for the governor to perform the duty, imposed 
upon him by the constitution,' of seeing to it that the laws are 
faithfully executed. It must be remembered, moreover, that 
the execution of the laws is also dependent largely upon a mul- 
titude of local officers over whom the state exercises little con- 
trol (see p. 467). It is apparent how imperfect must be the 
team work of the people through this organization. 

Why have the people put up with this sort of thing? For one 
thing, they have not understood where the trouble lies. There 
is also seen the influence of the political ''boss," who thrives 
under this confusion. But among the causes is the desire 



OUR STATE GOVERNMENTS 499 

of the people to maintain control over government. They 

have attempted, in their constitutions, not only to say just 

what services should be performed for them, but 

also to specify just what machinery should be efforts at 

used for their performance. For every new service, popular 

they have created a new and independent piece 

of machinery. Then, to make their control complete, as they 




State Capitol of Pennsylvania at Haerisburg 

thought, they have made most of their new officers elective. 
Experience has shown that control of this kind has been gained 
only at the sacrifice of efficient service, through failure to 
provide trained leadership and effective organization. More- 
over, experience has also shown that control of this kind is 
largely a delusion; for the people cannot keep in touch with their 
multitude of officers, and in many cases yield their control, 
often unknowingly, to the political "boss." 

In noting these defects, it is not to be concluded that our 
state governments have been a failure in all respects. Far 
from it. Notable progress has been made toward the ideals 



500 COMMUNITY CIVICS 

which we have been striving to attain. We have tried one 
experiment after another, some of which have been highly 
Experiment successful, but Others of which have not met the 
necessary to test of new conditions. It is important, however, 
progress ^^^^ ^^ should face our failures squarely and 

profit by them. 

At the present time there is a marked effort to overcome the 
defects that we have just noted, and a good deal of progress 
Reorganiza- ^^^ been made in some states. One of the most 
tion of progressive states in this particular is Illinois, 

which has recently enacted a law for the reorgani- 
zation of its executive branch of government. 

Under the new "Civil Administrative Code" of Illinois, the executive 
branch of government is organized in nine departments: the departments 
of finance, of agriculture, of labor, of mines and minerals, of public works 
and buildings, of public welfare, of public health, of trade and conunerce, 
and of registration and education. 

At the head of each department is a director, who is appointed by the 
governor, is responsible to him, and whose term of office is the same as that 
of the governor. 

Each department is organized into various bureaus, or other subdivisions, 
with ofi&cers in charge who are directly responsible to the director of the 
department. Thus, in the department of agriculture there is an assistant 
director, a general manager of the state fair, a superintendent of foods and 
dairies, a superintendent of animal industry, a superintendent of plant 
industry, a chief veterinarian, a chief game and fish warden, and a food 
standard commission of three members. 

All subordinate employees in all departments are appointed under a civil 
service law which requires competitive examinations. 

Associated with most of the departments are "advisory boards" consist- 
ing of citizens who serve without pay. Thus, the department of agriculture 
has a board of agricultural advisors composed of fifteen persons, and a board 
of state fair advisors of nine persons, not more than three of whom shall be 
appointed from any one county. 

The things aimed at in this reorganization are: (i) fixing re- 
sponsibility for the entire service organization in one place — 
with the governor; (2) responsible, trained leadership in each 



OUR STATE GOVERNMENTS 501 

department of service; (3) responsiveness of leadership to the 
people's wants, as provided for by the advisory boards; (4) a 
system of accounting and records that will make for efficiency 
and economy, and that will inform the people as well as the 
officers of government. 
Investigate and report on: 

The name of the governor of your state, his political party, when elected, 
for how long a term. 

Advantages and disadvantages of a long term for the governor. 
The constitutional powers of the governor of your state. 
The influence of the governor of your state with the people. 
The principal executive and administrative ofi&cers of your state. Those 
that are elective and those that are appointive. 

A complete list of the administrative bureaus, boards, commissions, and 
other state agencies, with their duties. 

The application of Governor Lowden's statement regarding Illinois 
(p. 497) to your state. 

Any proposed reorganization of the executive branch of your state 
government. 

The legislative branch of government consists, in all states, of 
a legislature ("general assembly," "legislative assembly," or 
"general court") composed of two "houses" or Thelegisla- 
" chambers," the house of representatives and the *^^® branch 
senate. The senate is the "upper house," and is usually from 
one third to one half the size of the "lower house"; in Massa- 
chusetts only one sixth the size. 

A bill to become a law must pass both houses separately, 
each house acting as a check upon the other, thus securing 
greater deliberation in law making. The senate The two 
is supposed to be, and usually is, a more conserva- ^^^^es 
tive, or cautious, body than the house of representatives, partly 
because of its smaller size which makes possible a more careful 
consideration of business. Its members are elected from larger 
districts, thus increasing the opportunity to select able men. 
A higher age qualification is required for membership in the 
senate than in the house of representatives; and only a part of 



502 



COMMUNITY CIVICS 



the senate is elected at each election, so that it is a continuing 
body, always containing members of experience, while the lower 
house may be almost entirely changed at each election. 




Hall of Representatives, Pennsylvania Capitol 



It is a theory of our representative government that repre- 
sentation should be proportioned to population. To secure this 

^ , ^ . result, each state is divided into election districts 

Defects in 

distribution presumably of as nearly equal population as pos- 

of repre- sible, the senatorial districts being the larger. In 

sentation . . . ° '^ 

practice, however, these districts do not always 

have representation proportional to their population. The 

county is often the unit of representation, or in New England 

the town, and these districts vary greatly in population. An 

attempt is made to equalize the difference by providing that no 

district shall have less than one representative, and often that 



OUR STATE GOVERNMENTS 503 

none shall have more than a certain number. Inequalities 
nevertheless exist. In Connecticut, 

thirty-four of the most populous towns and cities have sixty-eigl^t members 
in the lower house, whereas if the distribution were made on the basis of 
population they would be entitled to 186 members. Again, four of the 
smallest Connecticut towns, with a total population of 1567, have five mem- 
bers; four of the most populous cities, containing 309,982 inhabitants, have 
only eight members, whereas on the basis of population they would be en- 
titled to eighty-seven.^ 

Partisan influences often enter into the districting of states for 
representation, the party in power trying to fix boundaries in 
such a way as to insure the continuance of their majority in the 
legislature. 

Investigate and report on the following: 

Number of members in the lower and upper houses of your legislature. 

Qualifications for membership in each house. 

Term of office in each house. 

Names of your own representative and senator. 

Whether representation in your legislature is proportional to population. 

The "gerrymander": what it is, and whether it has been used in your 
state. 

Secure a map showing legislative districts of your state. Locate your own. 

The legislature controls our lives at almost every turn. 

It has control over the whole domain of civil law;^ that is, it lays down 
the rules governing contracts, real and personal property, inheritance, 
corporations, mortgages, marriage and divorce, and other civil matters. 
It defines crime; that is, it prescribes those actions of the citizen which are 
to be punished by fine or imprisonment or death. It touches the property 
of the citizen not only by regulating its use, but also by imposing upon it a 
burden of taxation. Finally, it has control over the vast domain known as 
the police power, under which it makes regulations concerning public health, 
morals, and welfare, devises rules for the conduct of business and professions, 
and in other ways restrains the liberty of the citizen to do as he pleases.^ 

In view of this importance, it would seem that the people 
would have the keenest interest in their state legislatures and 

^ C. A. Beard, American Government and Politics, p. 521. 

2 See below p. 511. ^ C. A, Beard, American Government and Politics, p. 516. 



504 COMMUNITY CIVICS 

the greatest respect for them. This has not always been the 

case. As one writer says, "it has become almost fashionable" 

to speak slightingly of legislatures and their mem- 

the people bers, and to talk of them as if they were wholly 

toward their corrupt and dishonorable. If the very best men the 
legislatures . "^ 

community affords are not always chosen for the 

difficult and responsible work of law making, the people have 

no one to blame but themselves. Moreover, the members of 

our legislatures average up very much like their neighbors, and 

most of them are sincerely desirous of serving their state and do 

so to the fullest extent possible under the conditions that exist. 

It is indeed time that a different attitude should be assumed toward these 
bodies . . . Acquaintance with actual legislatures will immediately reveal 
the fact that they are fairly representative of the American people, and that 
there is in them a great deal of honest effort to grapple with the diflScult 
problems of legislation. . . . Before all, there ought to be a sustained effort 
to support the men who are with honest purpose struggling for equitable 
and effective legislation. . . } 

Most of the unwise and harmful legislation has been due, not 
to wrong intentions on the part of legislators, but to the diffi- 
Difficuities culty encountered by a body of men of average 
of wise intelligence and of little experience in dealing with 

egis a ion public questions, in getting information necessary 
to enable them to decide wisely with respect to the multitude of 
complicated problems that come before them during the brief 
session of the legislature. 

In the lower house of one typical legislature only 19 out of the 252 members 
had ever been members of a legislature before, 123 were farmers, 6 lawyers, 10 
physicians, 48 merchants and manufacturers, 3 bankers, 5 preachers, 6 insur- 
ance men, 2 hotel proprietors, 3 liverymen, 14 laborers or artisans, 6 "appar- 
ently with no occupation except that of general politician and office-seeker. " 

Of the thirty members of the senate of the same legislature, 9 were farm- 
ers, 4 lawyers, 4 physicians, and 13 merchants. Seven of these had com- 
pleted their education in "academies," while 13 had never got beyond the 
public schools. 

1 Paul S. Reinsch, American Legislatures and Legislative Methods, p. 126. 



OUR STATE GOVERNMENTS 505 

These men had to decide •in the course of a few weeks, upon an astonish- 
ing variety of problems, some of them of the greatest complexity, and all 
of them affecting the lives of the citizens of the state in a multitude of ways. 
It is not surprising that serious mistakes are sometimes made.^ 

The mere writing of a bill in language that will convey the 
exact meaning intended, and that will not involve undesirable 
and unexpected results, is a difficult matter that requires the 
skill of men trained for it. 

In a number of states an attempt has been made to meet 
these natural difficulties by the estabHshment of legislative 
reference libraries, or bureaus, in charge of highly Legislative 
trained students who collect all available informa- reference 
tion relating to every possible subject of legislation, 
keep records of legislation in other states, and place the material in 
convenient form at the disposal of the legislators. Sometimes they 
provide expert service in the writing of bills in the proper form. 
It is said that such legislative reference bureaus have already 
greatly improved the quality of legislation in some of the states. 

It would be impossible for a legislature, acting as a body, to 
give consideration to more than a small fraction of the bills that 
come before it. 

It is said that it is not unusual for more than 2,500 bills to be introduced 
at a single session. Legislatures are in session from 40 to 90 days. If the 
session were 60 days, and the working day 10 hours, there would be but 15 
minutes for each of 2,500 bills. This time would be divided between the 
two houses. Besides, a great deal of business must be transacted other than 
the consideration and passage of bills. 

To make possible the handhng of all this work, each house 
is organized in standing committees. As biUs are introduced, 
they are referred to their appropriate committees, ^he commit- 
in which most of the work of law making is done, tee system 

<•■,■, ^^■, r 1 i. J of legislation 

Most of the bills so referred are never reported 

back to the legislature at all, and those that are reported are 

1 C. A. Beard, American Government and Politics, p. 525 (from S. P. Orth "Our 
State Legislatures," Atlantic Monthly, vol. xciv, pp. 728 ff). 



5o6 COMMUNITY CIVICS 

in most cases acted upon by the legislature in accordance 
with the committees' reports, with little general discussion. 
The procedure followed in referring bills to committees and in 
considering them when they are reported back is determined 
by a complexity of rules that are confusing to the outsider and 
that cannot be explained in detail here. But their declared 
purpose is to save time and to enable the legislative business 
to move smoothly. The small committees can work to better 
advantage than, the large body of men in either chamber. The 
work is divided up so that the few members of each committee 
can concentrate their attention upon •a few subjects and gain 
experience in handling special kinds of problems. 

On the other hand, it is to this organization that we owe some 
of the bad law making for which our legislatures are blamed. 
Invisible It tends to remove legislation from the control of 

government ^^le people, and results in what is often called "in- 
visible government," government that is carried on out of sight 
of the people. It opens a door to partisan influences and to 
control by political "bosses" and self-seeking "interests." 
In the lower house the committees are appointed by the speaker, 
who is the presiding officer, and who is always chosen by the 
members of the majority party in the house from their own 
number. The senate committees are sometimes appointed by 
the presiding officer of the senate, who is often the lieutenant- 
governor, and sometimes elected by the senate itself. But the 
chairmen and the majority of the members of all committees 
in both houses belong to the majority party, which is thus 
enabled to control legislation for partisan ends if it so desires, 
and it often does so. 

Bills may be "killed" in committee, or reported unfavorably, 
or so amended as to change their meaning entirely, merely at 
Evils of the the will of the party leaders, or of "bosses" and 
system interests outside of the legislature. A large part 

of the work of the committees is carried on in secret. Although 



OUR STATE GOVERNMENTS 507 

"hearings" may be held at which citizens may present argu- . 
ments for and against proposed measures, these may be mere 
matters of form. Influential interests may maintain a lohhy at 
the legislature, which means that they are represented there by 
agents who seek to influence the members of the legislature, and 
especially of the committees, sometimes by corrupt methods. 
The lobby usually works by secret methods, whereas the "hear- 
ings" are public. 

The party leaders in control, of whom the most important 
are the speaker of the house, the rules committee, the chairmen 
of committees, and the "floor manager," by dictating the 
procedure to be followed, may at times make it practically 
impossible for a member of the minority party, or one who has 
incurred the displeasure of the leaders, to gain a hearing. The 
following description gives an idea of what may happen:^ 

Consider the petty annoyances to which a decent member outside the 

"organization" may be subjected, and the methods by which legitimate 

legislation, backed by him, may be blocked. The bill goes to an unfriendly 

committee. The chairman refuses to call the committee together, or when 

forced to call it, a quorum does not attend. . . . Action may be postponed 

on various pretexts, or the bill may be referred to a sub-committee. The 

committee may kill the bill by laying it on the table. On the other hand, 

the committee may decide that the bill be reported to the house to pass. 

Then a common practice is for the chairman to pocket the bill, delaying to 

report it to the house till too late to pass it. When finally reported to the 

house, it goes on the calendar to be read a first time in its order. Then begins 

the advancing of bills by unanimous consent, without waiting to reach them 

in order. Here is where the organization has absolute control. Unanimous 

consent is subject to the speaker's acuteness of hearing. His hearing is 

sharpened or dulled according to the good standing of the objector or of the 

member pushing the bill. If one not friendly to the house "organization" 

wants to have his bill considered over an objection, he must move to suspend 

the rules. The speaker may refuse to recognize him, or may put his motion 

and declare it carried or not carried as suits his and the organization's desires. 

So the pet bills are jumped over others ahead of them on the calendar, while 

1 From a pamphlet issued by the Illinois Legislative Voters' League in 1903, 
and quoted by C. A. Beard, American Government and Politics, pp. 539? 54°' 



5o8 COMMUNITY CIVICS 

the ones not having the backing of the house ''organization" are retired 
farther and farther down until their ultimate passage becomes hopeless. 
If the bill of the independent member reaches a second reading, it may be 
killed by striking out the enacting clause or by tacking on an obnoxious 
amendment that makes it repulsive to its former friends. ... To carry 
out the will of the organization, the speaker declares amendments carried or 
the contrary by a viva voce vote. Demands for roll-calls are ignored by 
him in violation of the members' constitutional rights. . . . 

It is such practices as these that have brought state legisla- 
tures into bad repute, and that have resulted in measures to 
Efforts to ^^^^ their pov^^er. Instead of leaving it entirely 
curb power to them to make their own rules of procedure, 

or l6&fisl3.ttlT'6S 

many of these rules are now prescribed by the state 
constitutions. It was in order to restrain the legislatures that 
the veto power has been given to the governors, and that ses- 
sions of legislatures have been limited to brief periods of from 
forty to ninety days, and then only once in two years. For the 
same reason state constitutions have taken away powers that 
legislatures once commonly abused, as in running the state 
deeply into debt, or in legislating in the interest of particular 
localities or particular groups; and have provided in great detail 
for many things that were formerly left to the discretion of the 
legislatures. For the same reason some states have adopted the 
initiative and referendum (see p. 437). 
Investigate and report on: 

Powers possessed by either house of your legislature not possessed 
by the other. 

Powers denied your legislature by the federal Constitution. 

Powers denied your legislature by your state constitution. Reasons. 

Attitude of the people of your community toward your legislature. 

Why service in the legislature does not attract more of the most cap- 
able men of the state. 

The vocations of the members of your legislature. 

Number of bills introduced, and the number passed, at the last 
session of your legislature. 

The purpose of some of the most important laws enacted by your 
legislature at its last session. 



OUR STATE GOVERNMENTS 509 

Why it is difficult to write a bill correctly. 

The legislative reference library, or bureau, of your state (if any). 

The committees in each house of your legislature. 

Procedure by which a bill becomes a law in your state. • 

The speaker of the House of Representatives in your state. 

"Invisible government" in your state. 

Laws regulating the "lobby" in your state. 

Frequency and length of legislative sessions in your state. 

Some of the greatest abuses of governing power have been in 
connection with the appropriation of money. They have been 
due not so much to dishonesty as to bad organi- 
zation and loose business methods, both in the business 
executive and legislative branches of government, methods of 
When the executive branch consists of a large jnents 
number of more or less independent parts, as de- 
scribed on pages 497, 498, each trying to make the best show- 
ing possible, it is quite to be expected that each will seek 
to get from the public treasury all the money possible with- 
out reference to the needs of other parts or to the resources 
of the state. When, in addition, there is no central executive 
authority with power to hold the heads of the various parts 
responsible for their acts, and no uniform or business-like 
system of keeping accounts, either of money expended or of 
work accomphshed, it is easy to see the opportunity for waste- 
fulness and inefficiency. 

On the other hand, the methods of making appropriations in 

the legislature have been equally conducive to wastefulness. 

Appropriation bills pass through the same legisla- t«- x ^ , 

tive machinery as all other bills and are subject to methods of 

the same dangers. Moreover, they are handled by °iaking ap- 
® ^ ' ^ •' propnations 

different committees that act as independently of 

one another as do the various executive departments. In Illinois, 

for example, until recently "requests for appropriations were 

submitted informally by each office, department, or board; and 

separate bills were prepared by the several departments and in- 



510 COMMUNITY CIVICS 

stitutions, and introduced by individual members of the General 
Assembly,"^ then being referred to different committees accord- 
ing to the subjects to which they related. At the session of 1913, 
94 separate appropriation acts were passed. 

A number of the- states have sought to remedy this defect in 
government by the adoption of a budget system (see Chapter 
The budget XVII, pp. 309, 310). Illinois has perhaps made 
system ^^ most complete reform in this matter. We have 

already seen how that state has reorganized its executive branch 
of government (p. 500), which is the first necessary step. In 
this reorganization there was created a finance department, 
to which all the administrative departments submit a careful 
estimate of the money needed for their various lines of work, 
together with a detailed statement of work done and money 
spent during the two preceding years. The finance department 
considers all these statements and estimates in their relation to 
one another and to the financial resources available for the 
next two years, and submits to the governor a comprehensive 
and detailed budget. On the basis of this, a single appropria- 
tion bill is prepared by a single committee of the legislature. 
Public hearings are held, the people are given opportunity to 
know just what the government has done and intends to do, and 
the governor and his finance department may be held responsible. 

No single change would add so largely to both democracy and efiSciency 
as the introduction of proper budget methods.^ 

Investigate and report on: 

Method of making appropriations in your state. 
Movement for a budget system in your state. 

Why a budget system tends toward (i) economy, (2) efficiency, 
(3) democracy. 

1 John A. Fairlie, Budget Methods in Illinois, quoted by W. F. Willoughby, in 
The Movement for Budgetary Reform in the States, p. 45. 

2 Foreword to Public Budgets, Annals of the American Academy of Political and 
Social Science, November, igis; quoted by W. F. Willoughbj^ The Movement for 
Budgetary Reform in the States, p. 2. , 



OUR STATE GOt^ERNMENTS 511 

Questions are continually arising as to the meaning of laws, 
or as to how they apply in particular cases. To answer these 
questions the judicial branch of government exists, The judicial 
comprising a system of courts. The courts are branch 
sometimes called upon to decide whether a law passed by the 
legislature, or an act of an administrative officer, is in harmony 
with the constitution, and if not, to declare such law or act 
invalid. The judicial branch of government is therefore the 
people's organization to keep the other branches of government 
within their constitutional powers. 

In most cases that come before the courts, however, the law 
is perfectly clear when once the facts in the case are known. 
It is therefore the business of the courts also to q^jj ^^^ 
ascertain the facts. There are two classes of cases criminal 
that come before the courts, civil cases and criminal 
cases; and the law that applies to the two classes is known as 
civil law and criminal law. A civil case is one that involves 
a dispute between individuals, or an injury done by one indi- 
vidual to another. Such would be a dispute over a boundary 
line between the properties of two individuals, or over the pay- 
ment of a debt; or a personal injury due to the carelessness of 
some one, or an injury to property or to health through main- 
taining a nuisance of some kind. In such cases the court, 
after ascertaining the facts, merely sees that justice is done, as 
by the payment of damages to the injured party by the one doing 
the injury. A criminal case is one in which a person is charged 
with having violated a law of the community. The injury is 
one against the community as a whole, and not merely against 
an individual. It is the community that appears in court against 
the accused person, and not merely one of his neighbors. In 
such cases the court first ascertains the guilt or innocence of 
the accused person; and if he is guilty, imposes a punishment 
upon him, such as a fine, or imprisonment, or even death, ac- 
cording to the nature of the crime. 



512 



COMMUI^TY CIVICS 



The judicial branch of government, then, is that part of the 
governmental organization that seeks to adjust, by peaceful and 
just means, the inevitable conflicts that arise in community life. 




A Criminal Trial in Progress 

The lowest in the series of state courts are the justices' courts, 
of which there is at least one in every township. They are 
Justices' presided over by justices of the peace. Only cases 

courts Qf small moment come before justices* courts: 

civil cases involving very small amounts, and cases of minor 
infractions of the law punishable by small fines or by short 
terms in jail. Persons accused of more serious crimes may have 
a preliminary examination in a justice's court and, if the evi- 
dence warrants it, be committed to jail to await the action of 
the grand jury (see below). Most cases in a justice's court 
are disposed of by the justice of the peace alone; but a jury 
trial may be demanded in all criminal cases, and in civil suits 
"where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars" 
(Const., Amendments VI, VII). 



OUR STATE GOVERNMENTS 513 

More serious cases, civil or criminal, are tried in the county, 
or district, courts before a judge and a jury. Cases that have 
been tried in a justice's court may be appealed to ^^^^^^ ^^^^^^ 
the county or district court, where there is sure to 
be a jury trial, and where the judge is more learned in the law 
than is a justice of the peace. It is the business of the jury to 
decide on the facts in the case on the evidence furnished in the 
trial, and in civil cases to award the amount of damages, if any, 
to be paid; while the judge sees that the procedure is in accord- 
ance with the law, instructs the jury as to the law in the case, 
and in criminal cases fixes the penalty within the Hmits permitted 
by the law. 

It was stated above that in criminal cases it is the community 
that appears against the accused. The community appears 
in the person of the district attorney, otherwise ^he com- 
called the prosecuting attorney, state's attorney, munity in 
or county solicitor. It is the business of this officer 
to gather evidence of crimes committed in the community and, 
in most cases, to submit it to the grand jury, which is a body of 
citizens carefully chosen to consider such evidence. If the 
grand jury considers the evidence against the accused sufficient 
to warrant bringing him to trial, it brings in an indictment 
against him. The prosecuting attorney then prosecutes the 
case for the community against the accused. It is of course 
his duty to secure exact justice; sometimes, however, he seems 
interested only in securing the conviction of the accused. 

Our state and national constitutions seek to protect carefully 
the rights of a person accused of crime. He is assumed to be 
innocent until he has been proved otherwise. He Rights of 
is guaranteed a "speedy and pubhc trial, by an the accused 
impartial jury. " He must be " confronted with witnesses against 
him," and have "compulsory process for obtaining witnesses 
in his favor," and "assistance of counsel for his defense" 
(Const., Amendment VI). He cannot be compelled to be a 



514 COMMUNITY CIVICS 

witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or prop- 
erty, without ''due process of law" (Amendment V). ''Exces- 
sive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor 
cruel and unusual punishments inflicted" (Amendment VIII). 

In some states there is another set of courts immediately 
above the county courts, known as circuit, district, or superior, 
Circuit or courts. The districts in which these courts have 
superior jurisdiction include several counties. The cases 

handled by them are either cases of appeal from 
the lower courts, or cases of greater importance than those over 
which the lower courts have jurisdiction. 

The highest court in the state is the supreme court, sometimes 
called the court of appeals, or the court of errors. In the supreme 
The state court several judges sit together, and there is no 
supreme 'jury. The cases that come before it are for the 

most part cases of appeal from the lower courts, 
although there are certain classes of cases that come before it 
in the first instance. The supreme court is the final judge as 
to whether acts of the legislature are in conformity with the 
state constitution. 

In addition to the courts named above there are sometimes 

others to deal with special classes of cases. In cities there are 

^^, , municipal courts and police courts, both in the same 

other courts ... 

class with justices' courts. There are juvenile 
courts to deal with juvenile offenders; probate, or surrogate, 
courts to settle the estates of persons who have died; courts 
of claims to settle claims against the state; and chancery courts, 
or courts of equity, which administer justice in cases that the 
ordinary law will not reach. 

For example, the law will permit a man's property to be taken to satisfy 
a mortgage; equity requires that the property be sold and the surplus over 
the amount of the mortgage returned to the owner. The law will grant 
damages for any injury inflicted; equity will, by an injunction, forbid a 
repetition of the injury. 



OUR STATE GOVERNMENTS 51 5 

The judges of the state courts were originally appointed by 
the governors, or by the legislatures. With the movement 
toward more democratic forms of government, the Selection of 
states began to introduce provisions in their consti- Judges 
tutions'for the election of judges by the people, and they are 
now so chosen in most states, though in a number they are 
appointed by the governor, and in a few by the legislature. It 
is highly important that judges should be controlled in their 
decisions solely by the desire to render justice, and that they 
should be removed as far as possible from partisan influences. 
Popular election of judges is most prevalent because it seems to 
give to the people the most direct control over their courts. 
On the other hand, it is opposed by many because it makes 
possible the election of incompetent judges, and because it 
does not necessarily remove the matter from partisan influences. 
In three states (California, Oregon and Arizona) the judges 
are subject to recall by the people (see p. 447). 

The terms during which judges hold ofiice also vary greatly 
among the states. In three states they hold office for life 
(Massachusetts, Rhode Island and New Hampshire). In the 
other states their terms vary from two to twenty-one years. 

It seems to be the opinion of most students that the state 
courts would be improved if their judges were appointed by the 
chief executive and should hold office for life, or during good 
behavior, as is the case in the federal courts. 

Investigate and report on: 

Civil law and criminal law. 

What makes an act a "crime." 

Difference between a "crime" and a "misdemeanor." 

Justices' courts in your community. 

Procedure in a justice's court. 

The organization of your county court. 

Who is your county (or district) judge. 

Procedure in your county court, and how it differs from that in the 
justice's court. 



5l6 . COMMUNITY CIVICS 

I 
Organization and work of the grand jury. 
How a trial jury is selected. 
The citizen's duty to serve on the jury. 
Rights of an accused person. 

Meaning of "bail," "indictment," "due process of law," "counsel 
for defense," "subpoena," "true bill." 

Circumstances under which an appeal may be made. , 
The supreme court of your state. 
The work of a juvenile court. 

READINGS 

State Constitution. 

Reports of the several departments of the state government. 

In Lessons in Community and National Life: 

Series B: Lesson i8, How state laws are made and enforced. 
The Civil Administrative Code of the State of Illinois, compiled by Loiais L. Emmer- 

son. Secretary of State, Springfield, 111. 
The Illinois Civil Administrative Code, by Charles E. Woodward, The Academy 

of Political Science, Columbia University, New York City. 
Beard, Chas. A., American Government and Politics, Part iii. State government. 
Hart, A. B., Actual Government, Part iii, State governments in action. 
Reed, T. H., Form and Functions of American Government, Part iii, State govern- 
ment. 
Bryce, James, The American Commonwealth, vol. i. Part ii, The State governments. 
In Long's American Patriotic Prose: 

Invisible government (Elihu Root), jjp. 261-264. 
In Foerster and Pierson's American Ideals: 

How to Preserve the Local Self-Government of the States (Elihu Root) pp. 48—55. 



CHAPTER XXVIII 
OUR NATIONAL GOVERNMENT 

It was the necessity for team work in carrying on the War 
for Independence that led the thirteen American colonies for 
the first time to unite under a common govern- The Revolu- 
ment. They had revolted to escape from an auto- tionary 
cratic government, and they sought to avoid set- ^°^^^^°^e^t 
ting up another in its place. Since it had been the king whom 
they distrusted most, they endeavored to get along without 
any executive head at all. Their new govermnent consisted 
solely of a Congress of delegates from the thirteen states. 

This form of government was continued for several years 
after the Revolution under a constitution known as the Articles 
of Confederation. It was, however, unsuccessful 
in securing anything like real national cooperation. ^^^J^^^^'^^ 
The Congress had no power to levy and collect 
taxes, it had little power to make laws, and it was without 
means to execute the laws that it did make. The real govern- 
ing power during this period was with the several states. The 
result was a period of unutterable confusion which has been 
called " the critical period of American history. " The question 
at stake was whether a number of self-governing state communi- 
ties with a multitude of apparently conflicting interests could 
really become a nation. 

During the war Benjamin Franklin had said, "We must all 
hang together or we shall all hang separately." The states 
had "hung together" sufficiently to win the war; The new 
but the wise men of the time now saw the need for Constitution 
a government so organized and with such powers as to secure 

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518 



OUR NATIONAL GOVERNMENT 519 

effective cooperation among all the states and all the people 
at all times for the welfare of the entire Union, while leaving 
each state free to manage its own local affairs. Therefore 
a convention of delegates from all the states was called together 
at Philadelphia in 1787 to revise the Articles of Confederation. 
The result was our present Constitution under which our present 
national government went into effect in 1789. 

Investigate and report: 

The nature and causes of the confusion during "the critical period" 
of American history. 
' The leading men of the Constitutional Convention. 

How the states ratified the Constitution. 

Which of the original thirteen states did not ratify the Constitution 
until after it had gone into effect. 

The number of states required to ratify before the Constitution 
went into effect (Const., Art. VII). 

"We, the people of the United States" "ordained and estab- 
lished" the Constitution (see the Preamble). It was also 
"ordained" in the Constitution (Art. V) that it 
could be amended only by methods designed to give trol through 
to the people control over the matter — greater *^® ^°"" 

11 11 1- 1 1 . stitution 

control than they have over ordmary law makmg. 

A great many amendments have been proposed in the course of 

time, but only nineteen have so far been adopted, ten of these 

having been adopted in the very beginning as a condition on 

which the states would accept the Constitution at all. None 

of these amendments changed the form of our government 

except with respect to the methods of electing the President 

and United States senators (Amendments XII and XVII). 

Explain the two methods of proposing, and the two methods of ratifymg, 
amendments (Const., Art. VII). 

Has there ever been a national constitutional convention called by the 
states? 

Could the suffrage have been acquired by women by any other method 
than by amending the federal Constitution? 



520 COMMUNITY CIVICS 

Which of the two methods of ratifying was used in the case of the last 
amendment adopted? ^ 
Did your state vote to ratify or to reject the last amendment? 

The Constitution adopted in 1787 has met the needs of our 
growing nation in a most remarkable way. It would be a mis- 
Our govern- take, however, to think that it has always met new 
ment a grow- conditions perfectly, or that we are governed to-day 
ing jng exactly as was intended by the framers of the Con- 

stitution. Although few amendments have been made, inter- 
pretations have been placed on the Constitution that were prob- 
ably unthought of by the framers or by the people who ratified 
it; and practices have grown up in our government that have 
made it quite a different government from that which was 
anticipated. Our government is a growing thing, and one of 
the chief merits of our Constitution is the fact that it speaks 
in such general terms that it has been possible, under it, to adapt 
our government to new and unexpected conditions. In this 
respect it differs from the detailed state constitutions (p. 494). 

On the other hand, conditions have arisen with the growth of 
our nation that our Constitution has not enabled us to meet 
Defects with the greatest success, and that we have not 

inevitable yg^ j^g^ l^y amendment. In some cases we have 
tried to get around the difficulties by devices not provided for 
in the Constitution, sometimes with unfortunate results. But 
a recognition of defects in our government should not cause us 
to lose respect for the Constitution. They are due not to posi- 
tive blunders on the part of the framers, but to the mere absence 
of provision for conditions that did not exist when the Constitu- 
tion was framed and that could not be foreseen by the wisest 
men of that time. The wise course for all good citizens is 
to seek to understand clearly wherein our government fails to 

^ Ohio by a referendum (see p. 437) in ig 19 submitted the eighteenth amendment 
to the people of the state for their vote, after it had been ratified by the legislature. 
This was the first time in our history that an amendment to the Constitution was 
submitted to popular vote for ratification. 



OUR NATIONAL GOVERNMENT 521 

meet our needs, if it does fail, and then to seek to correct the 
difficulty, under the existing terms of the Constitution if possible, 
or by amendment of the Constitution if that becomes clearly 
necessary. Amendment of the Constitution was purposely 
made difficult, and this was doubtless wise, for it tends to pre- 
vent changes without full consideration of their need and prob- 
able effects. 

Radical changes in our form of government and in our established laws 
are always fraught with danger. Because of the extreme complexity of 
community life a change eJBfected at one point to meet a particular evil may 
have consequences of the most far-reaching kind and in the most unexpected 
directions. A change that corrects one evil may produce conditions resulting 
in evils even worse than the first. Changes are necessary at times, but they 
should be made only after the most careful consideration by men of the 
widest possible experience. 

One thing that stood out clearly after the Revolution was 
the fear of a strong national government. Some of the states 
refused to ratify the Constitution unless amend- The bill of 
ments were added at once guaranteeing the liber- "s^its 
ties of the people. The first ten amendments, known as the 
"bill of rights," were the result. To make sure that no impor- 
tant rights were left unguarded, the ninth amendment pro\ides 
that "the enumeration in the Constitution of certain rights 
shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by 
the people. " 

Read the first ten amendments and discuss the meaning of each. 

It was clearly expected that most of the governing powers to 
which the people were subject should be exercised by the states, 
and not by the national government. The na- ^ govern- 
tional government was to exercise no powers except ment of dele- 
such as were delegated to it in the Constitution. ^^*®*^ powers 
These powers are important ones, but few in number, and are 
fisted in section 8 of Article I. In order to make this limitation 
of powers perfectly clear, the tenth amendment declares that 



522 



COMMUNITY CIVICS 



"The powers not delegated to the United States by the Consti- 
tution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the 
states respectively or to the people. " Certain powers were also 
expressly denied to the national government in section 9 of 
Article I. 




© Klinedinst 



Inauguration or President Harding 



Discuss the meaning of each clause in Article I, section 8. 
Discuss the meaning of each clause in Article I, section 9. 

The powers of the national government relate to interstate 
and foreign affairs, or to matters that the several states could 
The scope of ^^^ ^^^ regulate without confusion or injustice. 
national For example, it was chiefly the confusion in matters 

powers pertaining to trade in the period following the Revo- 

lution that made the new government necessary. Therefore 



OUR NATIONAL GOVERNMENT 523 

power was given to it "to regulate commerce with foreign na- 
tions and among the several states, and with the Indian tribes. " 
So, also, it was given power "to coin money, regulate the value 
thereof, and of foreign coin, and fix the standard of weights 
and measures," for varying systems of coinage and of weights 
and measures would be inconvenient. For similar reasons it 
was empowered "to establish post-offices and post-roads," 
"to estabhsh an uniform rule of naturalization" for immigrants, 
and "to promote the progress of science and useful arts" by 
giving copyrights and patents to authors and inventors. The 
states, on the other hand, were expressly forbidden to exercise 
any control over some such matters of national and international 
concern in section 10 of Article I. 

Read section 10, Article I, and discuss the reasons why the powers there 
mentioned should have been denied to the states. 

Not only did the framers of the Constitution carefully Hmit 
the powers that the national government might exercise, but 
they also introduced into the organization of the jj^^ ^ ^^^^ , 
government various devices to control it and to checks and 
prevent any of its parts from assuming too much ^ ^nces 
power. The most important of these is the system of checks 
and balances. In our national government, as in the state 
governments (see p. 494), the legislative, executive, and judi- 
cial powers are separated. In early times in England, the king 
could make any laws he wished, he could enforce them as 
he pleased, and he controlled the courts of justice. In our 
government the legislature, composed of representatives of the 
people, makes the laws; the executive branch of government 
sees to their enforcement; and the courts, which are responsible 
neither to the legislature nor to the executive, interpret the law 
and administer justice in accordance with the laws. This sepa- 
ration of powers is to prevent any one person or group of persons 
from exercising too much power, as the king did, and is a safe- 
guard to the liberty of the people. But the separation of powers 



524 COMMUNITY CIVICS 

is not complete. Each branch of government has a limited control 
over the others. This constitutes the system of checks and bal- 
ances, which still further protects the people's liberties. 

While the President can not make the laws, he is given a check upon the 
law-making power of Congress by his veto power. On the other hand, he 
can not, by an excessive use of his veto power, destroy the law-making power 
of Congress, because Congress may pass laws over the President's veto by 
means of a two-thirds vote. 

The President can not make a treaty, nor appoint men to office, without 
the consent of the Senate; neither can he exercise his executive powers 
until Congress votes him the necessary money. 

If Congress passes a law that is contrary to the Constitution the courts 
may declare the law void, and the executive can not enforce it. The courts, 
on the other hand, are in a measure under the control of both Congress and 
the President, for Congress may create and destroy courts (except those 
created by the Constitution), and the President, with the consent of the 
Senate, appoints the judges. 

The "checks and balances" in the organization of our govern- 
ment have been very effective in accomplishing the purpose 
for which they were intended, namely, to protect 
and^^sad-^ the liberties of the people against despotic govern- 
vantages of ment. But they have also, at times, been an 
balances^ obstacle to team work and to effective service. It 
sometimes happens, for example, that the Presi- 
dent represents one political party, while the majority of one 
or both houses of Congress are of the opposing party. The 
two branches of government may then enter into a struggle 
on partisan grounds, each trying to defeat the program of the 
other. Such a situation was probably unforeseen by the fram- 
ers of the Constitution, although it again reminds us of Wash- 
ington's warning with regard to the dangers of the party spirit 

(p. 441)- 
With the growth of our nation, the national government has 

come to perform a vast amount. of service, as we have seen in 

earher chapters, and to regulate the Hves of the people in a 

multitude of ways little dreamed of by, the makers of the Con- 



OUR NATIONAL GOVERNMENT 525 

stitution. This has been possible because of the principle of 

implied powers in the Constitution. This means that some of 

the powers expressly granted in the Constitution ^^ . ,. , 
1 T 1 n • 1-7 -^"® implied 

have been broadly mterpreted to imply powers not powers of 

expressly stated. There are certain clauses in the *^® national 
^ . . , • 11 1 1 T 1 government 

Constitution that especially lend themselves to 

such broad interpretation. For example, after the enumeration 
of the powers which Congress may exercise, in section 8 of 
Article I, clause 18 of that section gives Congress power "to 
make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying 
into execution the foregoing powers ..." Another clause 
whose liberal interpretation has been responsible for much of 
the service performed by the national government is that giv- 
ing it the power to regulate interstate commerce (Art. I, sec. 8, 
cl. 3). 

In the early days of our government the Federalist party, under the 
leadership of Alexander Hamilton, proposed the creation of a national hank. 
The Republican party under Jefferson opposed this because the Constitution 
did not expressly provide for it, and because it was feared that it would give 
the national government too much power. But the "broad construction- 
ists" argued that a national bank was a "necessary and proper" means 
to enable the national government "to borrow money on the credit of the 
United States" and to exercise other financial powers expressly granted in 
the Constitution. The Supreme Court of the United States supported the 
latter view, and the national bank became a fact. 

The building of roads and other internal improvements by the national 
government have always been opposed by the "strict constructionists," 
except where roads were clearly "post-roads" (Art. I, sec. 8, cl. 7). But the 
"broad constructionists" argued that roads were "necessary and proper" 
to provide "for the common defense," and also as a means "to regulate 
commerce among the several states. " 

Most of the work that the national government has done for the promo- 
tion of the public health, such as the passage and enforcement of the "pure 
food and drugs act, " the inspection of livestock and of slaughter-houses, 
and the attempt to regulate child labor, has been done under the authority 
of the clause which gives to Congress the power to regulate interstate 
commerce. 



526 COMMUNITY CIVICS 

. It has been the duty of the Supreme Court of the United States 

to decide finally whether much of the new service undertaken 

, , by the national government is in accordance with 
Expansion of . . 

powers -by the Constitution or not, and this court has been 

judicial responsible for most of the expansion of the ser- 

decision . ^ 

vice rendered, because of its liberal interpretation 
of the Constitution. 

Why should the power to regulate interstate commerce also give Con- 
gress the power to require the inspection of cattle in your neighborhood? 
or to forbid the use of harmful substances in patent medicines? or to forbid 
the employment of children in factories? 

Find out what you can about the influence of John Marshall, Chief 
Justice of the Supreme Court, in extending the powers of the national 
government. 

The Constitution vests the executive power in the President 
of the United States (Art. II, sec. i), and he alone is responsible 
The executive ^^ ^^^ people for the execution of the laws. The 

centralized people are protected against abuse of this power in 

and controlled .i i j r r • ^-^ ^' 1 

the nands 01 one man by various constitutional 

provisions. The President's term of office is limited to four 
years, though he may be reelected. In case of improper conduct 
in office, he may be removed by impeachment. The impeach- 
ment charges must be brought against him by the House of 
Representatives, and the Senate, presided over by the Chief 
Justice of the Supreme Court, must act as a court to try the 
case. Moreover, even the President must act according to law, 
and insofar as his duties are not prescribed by the Constitution 
they are prescribed by Congress. Congress must also create 
the machinery by which the President executes the laws, and it 
must appropriate the necessary money. The Senate exercises 
a further control over the President in that it must approve all 
appointments and all treaties made by him. 

The method of electing the President provided in the Con- 
stitution was intended to insure a wise choice, and also shows 
a lack of complete confidence in the people on the part of the 



OUR NATIONAL GOVERNMENT 



527 



framers of the Constitution. He was to be elected by a body of 
electors, chosen by the several states ''in such manner as 
the legislatures thereof may direct, "the number Method of 
of electors from each state to equal the whole num- electing the 
ber of senators and representatives from that state ^^®^^^®^* 
(Art.. II, sec. 2). These electors were originally chosen by the 
legislatures- of the states, but are now elected by the people. 
When voters "vote for the President" every four years, they 
in reahty only vote for these electors who. in turn, cast their 
votes for the President. 

In the method of electing the President we find one of the 
points where the intention of the framers of the Constitution 
has clearly been thwarted. It was obviously the 

intention that the electors chosen by the states P^p^^*^^? 
. "^ irom the in- 

should use their own discretion in the choice of the tention of 
President. But in practice to-day, the entire body Jutlon^^^*^' 
of electors from each state always represents the 
victorious political party, and casts its vote invariably for the 
presidential candidate already nominated by the party ma- 
chinery (see p. 446). We still elect the electors, and the electors 
go through the form of electing the President; but their part 
in the procedure is now entirely useless. 

The Vice-President is elected at the same time and by the 
same method as the President. But he has no executive duties 
whatever so long as the President is capable of The Vice- 
performing his duties. In order that he might President 
have something to do, he was made presiding officer of the 
Senate, but even there he has no vote except in case of a tie. 

Investigate and report: 

The qualifications necessary to hold the office of President (Const., Art. 
II, sec. I, cl. 5). 

How the electors elect the President (Const., Amend. XII). 

Who would become President if both the President and the Vice-President 
should die? 

The salary of the President. 



OUR NATIONAL GOVERNMENT 529 

The oath taken by the President on assuming office. The difference be- 
tween an oath and an affirmation. (Art. II, sec. i, cl. 8.) 
The powers of the President (Art. II, sec. 2). 
A President who was impeached. 
Why no President has been elected for a third term. 
Advantages and disadvantages of a longer term for the President. 

The President is at the head of a stupendous service organiza- 
tion which was not ready-made by the Constitution, but which 

has been gradually created by acts of Congress ^ , , , 

1 • 1 . 1- , rr^i ^ Growth of the 

under its express and implied powers. The Con- national 

stitution did not even create the great adminis- service or- 

1 • 1 1 -r. • 1 gamzation 

trative departments through which the President 

works, although it implied that such departments should be 
created: "The President . . . may require the opinion, in 
writing, of the principal officer in each of the executive depart- 
ments, upon any subject relating to the duties of their respective 
offices" (Art. II, sec. 2, cl. i). The heads of these departments 
are appointed by the President, are responsible to him, and may 
be removed by him. Together they constitute the President's 
cabinet, meeting with him frequently to discuss the affairs of 
their departments and matters of public policy. 

Five of these administrative departments were created during 
Washington's administration. These five have ^j^g adminis- 
grown to cover a multitude of activities that were trative de- 
no t at first contemplated, and five other great ^^^ ^^^ ^ 
departments have since been created. 

The Department of State maintains relations between the United States 
and foreign powers. The Secretary of State, acting for the President, 
negotiates treaties with foreign governments, and is in constant communi- 
cation with the ambassadors, ministers, consuls, and other representatives 
of our government in foreign countries, and with similar representatives 
of foreign governments in this country. This department is the medium of 
communication between the President and the governors of the several states. 
The Secretary of State has in his keeping the treaties and laws of the United" 
States, and also the Great Seal of the United States, which he affixes to 
proclamations, conunissions, and other official papers. Through him the 



530 



COMMUNITY CIVICS 



rights of American citizens in foreign countries are looked after. He is 
first in rank among the members of the cabinet, and by law would succeed 
to the Presidency in case of the death or disability of both the President and 
the Vice-President. 

The Department of the Treasury has at its head the Secretary of the Trea- 
sury, who is the financial manager of the national government. He prepares 
plans for, and superintends the collection of, the public revenues; deter- 




Kllnedlnst 



President Harding and his Cabinet 



mines the manner of keeping the public accounts; directs the coinage and 
printing of money. He also controls the construction and maintenance of 
public buildings, and administers the public health service and the life-saving 
service. 

The Department of War is directed by the Secretary of War, who, under 
the President, controls the military establishment and superintends the 
national defense. He also administers river and harbor improvements, 
the prevention of obstruction to navigation, and the building of bridges 
Over navigable rivers when authorized by Congress. He also has direction 
of the Bureau of Insular Affairs, which supervises the government of Porto 
Rico and the Phihppines. 



OUR NATIONAL GOVERNMENT 531 

The Department of Justice has at its head the Attorney General, who is 
the chief law officer of the government, and represents it in all matters of 
a legal nature. He is the legal advisor of the President and of the several 
executive departments, and supervises all United States attorneys and 
marshals in the judicial districts into which the country is divided. 

The Post Office Department is administered by the Postmaster General 
(see pp. 251-253). 

The Department of the Navy, under the Secretary of the Navy, has charge 
of the "construction, manning^ equipment, and employment of vessels of 
war. " 

The Department of the Interior was created to relieve the Department 
of State of work relating to internal affairs, and now embraces a wide variety 
of duties. At its head is the Secretary of the Interior. Through many 
bureaus and divisions it administers the public lands, the national parks, 
the giving of patents for inventions, the pensioning of soldiers, Indian affairs, 
education, the reclamation service, the geological survey, the improvement 
of mining methods for the safety of miners, certain matters pertaining to 
the territories of the United States, and certain institutions in the District 
of Columbia. 

The Department of Agriculture is directed by the Secretary of Agriculture, 
and carries on a great variety of activities for the promotion of agriculture 
and the well-being of the agricultural population. 

The Department of Commerce, under the Secretary of Commerce, pro- 
motes the commercial interests of the country in many ways. It includes 
in its organization the Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce, the 
Bureau of Corporations, the Census Bureau, the Bureau of Lighthouses, 
the Bureau of Navigation, the Bureau of Fisheries, and the Bureau of 
Standards. 

The Department of Labor, under the Secretary of Labor, has for its pur- 
pose "fostering, promoting, and developing the welfare of the wage earners 
of the United States, improving their working conditions, and advancing 
their opportunities for profitable employment. " Among its important 
bureaus are those of Immigration and of Naturalization, and the Children's 
Bureau, which investigates and reports upon "all matters pertaining to the 
welfare of children and child life among all classes of our people. " 

In addition to these great administrative departments with 
their numerous bureaus and subdivisions, there are various 
boards, commissions and establishments that are independent of 
the departments. 



532 



COMMUNITY CIVICS 



The detailed work of this vast service organization is carried 
on by about 400,000 employees (not counting the army and the 
The civU navy). These constitute the civil service. The 

service quality of service depends largely upon the ef- 

ficiency of these employees. The task of filling all these places 
is a large one. In Andrew Jackson's administration (1829- 
1837) the ''spoils system" was introduced, which means that 




■'TTi- i ' ^ - m'>'i^^ "Sir* 






■■fe ... . . ' "1 jii i j i ii 



The White House, South Front 

government positions were treated by the victorious party as 
"the spoils of victory," to be given to members of the victorious 
party as rewards for party service without much regard to 
fitness for the work to be done. Whenever the administration 
passed from one party to another, the army of civil service 
employees was displaced by another of new employees. Not 
only did this result in inefficient service, but the time of the 
President and the heads of the departments was largely con- 
sumed in considering the claims of those seeking appointment. 
Moreover, since appointments could be made only ''with the 
advice and consent" of the Senate, senators were besieged by 
applicants for positions and their friends. The President, 



OUR NATIONAL GOVERNMENT 533 

overwnelmed by the multitude of appointments to be made, 
came to rely almost wholly upon the advice of the senators, 
and even of members of the House of Representatives, for ap- 
pointments in their states and districts. Thus, in effect, ap- 
pointments were made by members of Congress rather than 
by the President who was really responsible. No system could 
have been devised more wasteful of the time of the executive 
and legislative branches of the government, or more conducive 
to inefficiency. 

The spoils system became a great offense to the nation, but 
it was not until President Garfield was murdered by a dis- 
appointed office-seeker that Congress, in 1883, Reform of 
passed a law for the reform of the civil service, the civil 
Candidates for many positions in the civil service ^^^^^^ 
were required to pass an examination designed to prove their 
fitness for the work to be done, and a civil service commission 
was created to administer the law and to conduct the examina- 
tions, which are held at stated intervals in different parts of 
the country. Those appointed under this system cannot be 
removed except for cause. Even at the present time, however, 
only about half of the civil service is subject to this merit system. 

From the description of the work of the several executive departments 
on pages 529-531 select topics for special investigation and report; such as: 

The work of United States consuls. 

Coining money; the United States bureau of engraving. 

The life-saving service of the United States. 

The United States Army in war and peace. 

The United States Army as an organization to save life, especially in 
its work of sanitation in territories occupied. 

Representatives of the United States Department of Justice in your com- 
munity, and examples of their work. 

Building a battleship. Training for the navy. 

Exploits of the navy in war. The work of the navy in time of peace. 

The work of the patent office; of the bureau of Indian affairs; of 
the geological survey; of the bureau of mines. 

Taking the United States census. 



534 COMMUNITY CIVICS 

The work of the bureau of fisheries. 

Marvels of the bureau of standards. 

The immigration bureau. 

Work of the children's bureau. 

How an immigrant is naturalized. 

The Government Printing Office. 

The Congressional Library. 

The spoils system in Andrew Jackson's administration. 
How would you go about it to take an examination for the civil service? 
Is there any reason why a mail carrier or a clerk in a government office 
should be a RepubHcan or a Democrat? 

What employees of the United States civil service are there in your 
community? 

Efficient government requires strong, clearly recognized 
leadership. Democratic government requires that its leader- 
ship shall be responsive to the needs of the peo- 
Responsive . 

and respon- pie and tmder their control. The problem of how 
sibie leader- ^q secure strong leadership and controlled leader- 
ship at one and the same time is a difficult one. 
So far as the executive branch of government alone is concerned, 
the f ramers of the Constitution secured strength by concentrating 
full responsibility in the President. But did they expect him 
to be their leader in the government as a whole; that is, in 
formulating the policies of government that should serve as the 
basis for legislation? We are in the habit of thinking of him 
as our national leader, but was he made so in fact? 

In fact, the framers of the Constitution were apparently 
more concerned about maintaining control over the President 
Leadership of than about clearly making him the nation's leader, 
the President About the only indication the Constitution con- 
tains that he was to be such a leader is the statement that he 
"shall from time to time give to the Congress information of the 
state of the Union, and recommend to their consideration such 
measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient" (Art. II, 
sec. 3). He does submit recommendations to Congress at the 
opening of each of its terms and often at other times. If the 



OUR NATIONAL GOVERNMENT 535 

President ard the majority in Congress are of the same political 
party, Congress is pretty likely to follow the President's lead; 
or, if the President has a commanding personaHty and is clearly 
popular with the people, he may force measures through even 
an unwilling Congress. But if differences arise between the 
President and Congress, especially when one or both Houses of 
Congress are of the opposite party from the President, his 
recommendations may be entirely ignored. By our system of 
"checks and balances" the President is "controlled," but he 
ceases to, be a leader when he does not have the "following" 
of Congress, or of the majority of the people. 

President Wilson began his second administration with a majority in 
both Houses of Congress of his political party, and apparently in popular 
favor. He was clearly accepted as leader and practically all of his proposed 
measures were favorably acted upon by Congress. In the middle of this 
administration a congressional election occurred which resulted in a majority 
in both Houses of the opposing party. This result might be considered as 
a popular vote against the leadership of the President, and his opponents 
did consider it so. Whether this was true or not, Congress refused to follow 
his leadership in many important questions, including the treaty of peace 
with Germany. 

It, will be helpful to compare this situation with the method 
by which England has worked out the problem of Control of 
readership and control of leadership. En*\an^d^^ ^^ 

The real executive head in the English government is the prime minister. 
The king appoints the prime minister, but he always chooses for the position 
the recognized leader of the political party that is in the majority in the House 
of Commons (which corresponds to our House of Representatives). 

The prime minister having been appointed, he then selects the other 
members of his cabinet, who are to be the heads of the executive depart- 
ments, and who are also members of parliament. 

The prime minister and the other members of the cabinet have seats 
in the House of Commons, contrary to the practice in our country. They 
also take the lead in legislation, for most of the important bills considered 
in the House of Commons are planned and introduced by the cabinet. So the 
executive and legislative branches of the English government are not separ- 
ated as in our country. The same group of men manage the service organ- 



536 



COMMUNITY CIVICS 



ization and lead in planning the legislation that makes the service possible. 

It sometimes happens, however, that the cabinet introduces a measure 

which, after discussion, a majority of the House of Commons rejects. This 

means that on this question the cabinet no longer represents the majority 




The Capitol at Washington 



in the House. Then one of two things happens. Either the cabinet resigns 
in a body to make way for a new cabinet that does represent the majority; 
or the prime minister asks for a general election for members of the House of 
Commons. If at this election a majority is again returned that is opposed to 
the cabinet, it means that the cabinet no longer leads the people, and it 
resigns. If a majority is returned in support of the cabinet, it means that 
the old House was no longer representative of the people, and the old 
cabinet retains its leadership. 



OUR NATIONAL GOVERNMENT 537 

This system gives the English people more direct control over their govern- 
ment than we have in our country; it is very much like the method of recall 
that is used in some of our states (see p. 447). At the same time, it makes 
sure a real executive leadership within the government, a leadership that is 
both responsive and responsible to the people. 

Not only does our Constitution fail clearly to provide for 
responsible leadership within the government, but our system of 
" checks and balances, " our party system of govern- Qj-o^th of 
ment, and the organization and rules of Congress, irresponsible 
all taken together, have tended to confuse our ^^ ^^^ ^ 
leadership, and to impose upon us an irresponsible leadership, 
outside of the government as outlined by the Constitution. To 
understand this it will first be necessary to examine the organiza- 
tion of Congress. 

Congress, like the state legislatures, consists of two chambers, 

the House of Representatives and the Senate; this „, _ 

^ ' The Congress 

being another instance of "checks and balances." 

The creation of two chambers in the Congress made possible a satisfactory 
settlement of a dispute in the Constitutional Convention with regard to the 
basis of representation. The larger states wanted representation propor- 
tional to their population, while the smaller states insisted upon eqtial 
representation for all the states. It was settled that there should be equal 
representation in the Senate, and proportional representation in the House 
of Representatives. This is one of a series of compromises that had to 
be made between the two parties in the convention. In fact, the Constitu- 
tion is a series of compromises from beginning to end. Only thirty-nine of 
the fifty-five delegates in the convention signed the Constitution, and it is 
probable that no one even of the thirty-nine was wholly pleased with it. 

The number of representatives in the first Congress from 
each state was fixed in the Constitution, and provision made for a 
census in 1 790 and every ten years thereafter, on the r^^^ House of 
basis of which a reapportionment should be made. Representa- 
At present there are 435 members of the House, one 
for about every 212,000 of the population. They are elected by 
direct vote of the people, one from each of the congressional dis- 
tricts into which each state is divided, and for a term of two years. 



538 COMMUNITY CIVICS 

There are two senators from each state. The Constitution 

provided that they were to be elected by the state legislatures, 

.,.1. o . another evidence of distrust of the people. In 
The Senate ^ ^ 

1 913, the seventeenth amendment to the Con- 
stitution was enacted, providing for the election of senators 
by popular vote, showing the growing spirit of democracy and 
the distrust of the state legislatures (see page 508). Senators 
are elected for six years, but the term of only one third of them 
expires at the same time, so that at least two thirds of the Senate 
have always had at least two years' experience. No citizen 
may become a senator until he is thirty years of age, while one 
may become a member of the lower house at twenty-five. 

The House of Representatives has one important power not 
possessed by the Senate: it alone can originate bills for raising 
Exclusive revenue. This is because its members were 
powers of supposed to be more directly representative of the 
people than the senators. However, the Senate 
may amend such bills, and often succeeds in forcing the House to 
accept such radical amendments as practically to destroy the ad- 
vantages possessed by the latter in its power to originate the bills. 

In addition to its law-making powers, the Senate was intended 
to be an advisory council to the President. Only with its 
"advice and consent" may the President make appointments 
and treaties. 

Investigate and report on the following: 

The compromises of the Constitution. 

The census of 1920. 

The number of congressional districts in your state, and the number 
of the one you live in. 

The names of your representative and senators. 

The qualifications for election to the House of Representatives and to 
the Senate (Art. I, sees. 2 and 3). Compare with the qualifications for 
election to the two houses of your legislature. 

The characteristics of the Senate that make it more conservative than 
the House of Representatives. The meaning of "conservatism." 



OUR NATIONAL GOVERNMENT 539 

Why the Senate should be more conservative than the House. 

The "long" and "short" sessions of Congress. 

How vacancies in Congress are filled between elections. 

Legislation in which the representative from your district has been 
especially interested during the last session of Congress. 

In England a member of the House of Commons is not required to be a 
resident of the district which he represents. Arguments for and against 
this plan. 

Debate the question: Resolved, that our Constitution should be amended 
to provide for a "responsible cabinet government" as in England. 

The presiding ofi&cer of the Senate is the Vice-President of the 
United States, while that of the House of Representatives is a 
Speaker elected by the House. The Vice-President Organization 
has no vote in the Senate except in case of a tie, ®^ Congress 
when he may cast the deciding vote. The Speaker, on the other 
hand, has all the rights of any other member and has large 
powers by virtue of his position. He is always elected by a 
strictly party vote, and therefore represents the majority party 
in the House. 

As in the state legislatures, and for the same reason, most of 
the work of legislation in Congress is done by standing com- 
mittees, of which there are about sixty in the The Commit- 
House and about seventy-five in the Senate. As *®® System 
in the state legislatures, these committees are chosen on party 
lines, the chairmen and the majority of the members always 
being of the majority party. The procedure by which legislation 
is carried on in Congress is very much the same as that in the 
state legislatures (see page 505), and has the same advantages 
and disadvantages. There is even greater necessity for the 
committee organization and for rules because of the vastly 
greater number of bills introduced. In a recent Congress more 
than 33,000 bills were introduced in the House of Representa- 
tives alone. Whereas in the state legislatures some of the rules 
of procedure are fixed by the state constitutions, the rules of 
Congress are determined entirely by each House for itself. 



540 



COMMUNITY CIVICS 



Unquestionably this organization of Congress is designed to 
facilitate business, and it does make possible the handling of an 
enormous amount of work that could not be 
handled otherwise. And yet the very same organi- 
zation and rules are responsible for much delay 
in legislation. A few members, skilled in parlia- 
mentary law, may sometimes, by taking advantage 
of certain rules of procedure, completely block the transaction 



The niles 
may 
defeat 
their own 
ends 




A Corner in One Room of the United States Census Bureau 
Compiling vital statistics 

of business contrary to the desire of the majority. On the other 
hand, the leaders in Congress (they might almost be called 
"masters"), such as the Speaker, the committee on rules, and 
the chairmen of some of the other committees, may some- 
times rush legislation through in a " cut-and-dried " manner. 
One member of the minority in Congress complained: 

You send important questions to a committee, you put into the hands of 
a few men the power to bring in bills, and then they are brought in with an 
ironclad rule, and rammed down the throats of members; and then those 
measures are sent out as being the deliberate judgment of the Congress 



OUR NATIONAL GOVERNMENT 54I 

of the United States when no deUberate judgment has been expressed by 
any man. 

Again, this organization of Congress often leads to confused 
and "piecemeal" legislation. Thousands of bills are introduced 
and handled by different committees acting inde- Piecemeal 
pendently of one another and without unity legislation 
of purpose. It was pointed out during the recent war, for ex- 
ample, that 

One committee or sub-committee has supervision of the building of bar- 
racks at a given army post while another committee or sub-committee has 
supervision of building the hospital at the same post. One committee 
has jurisdiction of the guns, another committee has jurisdiction of the 
emplacement of the guns. All committees are jealous of their own pre- 
rogatives and sometimes more or less jealous of other committees.^ 

While there is a "committee on appropriations" in the House 
of Representatives, 

On the ground that no single group of men can give a speedy and 
careful scrutiny to the whole range of appropriation measures, one class 
of appropriations after another has been taken away from this committee 
and intrusted to other committees until, as a result, the work of pre- 
paring appropriations in the House of Representatives is broken up so 
that there are now no less than fourteen general appropriation bills pre- 
pared by seven different committees. ^ 

This procedure in Congress has caused leadership to be- 
come diffused, hidden, and often to pass outside of the govern- 
ment altogether into the hands of "bosses" and Diffused 
special "interests." There can be no well-con- leadership 
ceived plan worked out by responsible leaders and 
approved by Congress as a whole. There may be "plans," 
worked out by leaders in Congress, but they are likely to be 
plans designed to serve party ends rather than to promote a 
well-thought-out program of national development. 

1 Will Payne, "Your Budget," Saturday Evening Post, Jan. 3, 1920, p. 166. 

2 Beard, American Government and Politics, p. 366. 



542 COMMUNITY CIVICS 

In the English government, as we have seen (page 535), leader- 
ship in legislation is provided for in the prime minister and his 

cabinet. At the same time, that leadership is 
The duty of . 

Congress to controlled effectively by the people's representa- 

watch the tives in parliament. The great Enghsh philoso- 
pher, John Stuart Mill (1806— 1873), thus stated 
the purpose of the Enghsh House of Commons : 

To watch and control the government;^ to throw the light of publicity on 
its acts; to compel a full explanation and justification of aU of them which 
any one considers questionable; to censure them if found condemnable; 
to be at once the nation's committee on grievances; an arena in which not 
only the opinion of the nation, but that of every section of it, and as far as 
possible, of every eminent individual that it contains, can produce itself 
in full sight and challenge full discussion. 

In our government we have had neither the same leadership 
by the executive nor the same effective control by Congress that 

exist in the English government. The absence of 
between ^^^^ leadership is especially marked when the 

Congress legislative and executive branches represent oppos- 

executive ^^^ parties, as sometimes happens, or when the two 

branches of Congress are politically opposed to 
each other. It is at just such times, however, that Congress 
seeks most vigorously to "control" the executive; but it is 
control for partisan ends more often than for efficiency of govern- 
ment. The legislative and executive branches of government 
are each extremely jealous of any encroachment upon its powers 
by the other. It is charged, on the one hand, that Congress, by 
law, exercises administrative powers that properly belong to 
the executive. On the other hand, Congress alleges that the 
executive branch of the government encroaches on its legislative 
powers. While this chapter was being written a member 
of the House of Representatives made a speech in which he 
declared: 

1 " Government " here refers to the executive branch. 



OUR NATIONAL GOVERNMENT 543 

This bill presents a fine specimen of bureaucratic legislation.^ If the 
Congress ever intends, as it surely does, to regain the powers granted it by 
the fathers, of which it is now temporarily deprived by bureaucratic en- 
croachment, now is the time to start upon such a campaign by defeating 
by a decisive majority the bill now offered for your consideration. . . . 
Every time you weaken Congress by the establishment of a bureau in which 
the authority of Congress is lessened, you lay one more stone in the erection 
of the temple of autocracy. . . . These bureaus are not only legislating by 
administrative processes but are usurping the power and prerogatives of 
the people's courts. . . . 

A part of the difficulty is in the executive branch of the gov- 
ernment. Although the national government, unlike the states, 

has a single-headed executive, the executive de- ^ ,. ^. 

° • r 1 Duplication 

partments are composed of a multitude of bureaus and confusion 

and other subdivisions that are not well organized J? *^® execu- 

. tive Drancn 
in their relations to one another. There is 

overlapping, duplication, and even conflict of work. The director 

of finance of the War Department said that, in the recent war, 

The War Department entered this war without any fixed or carefully di- 
gested and prepared financial system. There were at the beginning of the 
war five . . . bureaus each independent of the others, each making its 
own contracts, doing its own purchasing, doing its own accounting, with 
as many different methods as there were bureaus. As a result they were 
competing with each other in a market where the supphes in many cases 
for which they were competing were restricted in amount. . . . There was 
no central authority to prune, revise, or compare estimates submitted and 
to coordinate expenditures, and that naturally resulted in overlappings and 
duplications, and some of them of a large amount.^ 

But even for this duplication and lack of coordination the re- 
sponsibility] rests largely with Congress, for it creates depart- 
ments, bureaus, and other subdivisions of the executive branch 
of government, defines their duties, and appropriates the money 
for their work; and in Congress, as we have seen, the responsi- 

1 "Bureaucratic legislation" here means law making by bureaus in the execu- 
tive branch of the government. 

2 Testimony before Budget Committee, quoted by Will Payne, "Your Budget," 
Saturday Evening Post, Jan, 3) 1920, p. 32. 



544 COMMUNITY CIVICS 

bility is divided among a large number of committees that are 
not well coordinated. 

As this chapter is being written, Congress is making a thor- 
ough survey of all the departments of the executive branch 
of the government, with a view to a reorganization to elimi- 
nate duplication and confusion, and to secure greater efficiency 
and economy in administration. 

Probably the most important step taken in many years in the 
direction of establishing a real leadership in our national 
A national government and- making possible a more effective 
budget control over it, is the enactment by Congress, in 

^ *°^ 1 92 1, of a law providing for a national budget system. 

This Act requires the President to submit annually to Congress 
a budget, in which shall be set forth in detail: 

1. The condition of the Treasury at the end of the last fiscal year, the 
estimated condition of the Treasury at the end of the year in progress, and 
the estimated condition of the Treasury at the end of the next year in case 
the proposals of the budget are adopted; 

2. The revenues and expenditures of the government during the last 
fiscal year, and the estimated revenues and expenditures during the cur- 
rent year; 

3. The provisions which, in his opinion, should be made to meet the 
governmental needs during the year to come; 

4. Other necessary or helpful financial statements and data for the in- 
formation of Congress. 

"As former President Taft once expressed it, the formulation and sub- 
mission of the budget will be the supreme act of the President as the head 
of the government. . . . For the first time. . . . the President will be 
under the obligation of meeting the primary duty of a general manager of 
submitting to his board of directors [Congress] a full and complete report 
of how he and his subordinates have conducted operations in the past 
and what, in his opinion, should be the financial and work program of the 
government in the future. " ^ 

In order that the President may fulfil his obhgation as im- 
posed by the law, the Budget Act creates a Bureau of the Budget, 

^W. F. Willoughby, "National Budget System," in The Weekly Review, June 
18, 1921. 



OUR NATIONAL GOVERNMENT 545 

the head of which is directly responsible to the President, and 
the duty of which is to take the estimates submitted by the 
heads of the several executive departments, to analyze and 
revise them, and from them to compile a single, unified estimate 
for the entire government establishment. Heretofore, each 
department has made its own estimate, naturally seeking to 
get as large an appropriation as possible, and has then submitted 
it to the Secretary of the Treasury, who passed it on to Congress 
just as it came to him, along with the estimates of all the other 
departments. Congress then began, through its various commit- 
tees, an attempt to legislate to meet the needs of the government. 

In the preparation of their bills the committee on appropriations and the 
other committees in charge of appropriations are compelled to work more 
or less blindly. Sometimes they hold extensive hearings endeavoring to 
get a complete grasp of the multitudinous detailed expenditures for which 
they must provide. But, of course, it is impossible for the several committees, 
in the time at their disposal, to give even minor matters the amount of 
attention demanded by sound public economy .^ 

The new Bureau of the Budget, with its expert staff, now 
does all the preliminary work of investigation and is at the 
call of Congress to furnish it, as well as the President, with all 
necessary information. The Budget Bureau also has the duty 
of studying all departments of the executive branch of the 
government to discover where reorganization will make them 
more efficient. 

Meanwhile, the House of Representatives has amended its 
rules so that hereafter all appropriations to meet the budget 
needs will be made by a single appropriations . 
committee. Thus while the responsibihty for responsibility 
making the budget is fixed definitely with the |?JjjgPP''°P"*" 
President, the responsibility for meeting budget 
requirements is fixed equally definitely with this one committee 
in the House of Representatives. 

1 Charles A., Beard, American Government and Politics, pp. 366, 367. 



546 COMMUNITY CIVICS 

If only a reasonable attempt is made by Congress and the Administration 
to carry out these provisions in the spirit in which they are conceived, a 
new chapter will have been written in the story of the American people's 
effort to obtain an honest and efficient administration of their national 
affairs.^ 

A budget system, however good it may be, like all other 
governmental machinery is merely an organization for team 
Responsibil- work, and will do very little good unless the team 
ity^of the work is forthcoming, not only among the various 
branches and departments of government, but 
also on the part of the citizens. The new national budget 
system will be effective in securing better service and better 
control and better leadership only to the extent that Congress 
and the Executive make it so. Moreover, 

If there is a real budget it has got to be your budget. It will be good, 
bad or indifferent finally just in proportion to your interest in it and your 
expression of that interest at the polls and elsewhere. ... If there is a good 
budget system — not on paper, but in actual practice — you've got to make 
it. If, when a budget biU is finall}'' enacted . . . you say, "Well, that job 
is done, " and dismiss it from your mind, there will be no lasting gain. . . ? 

Effective control over government can be exercised only by 
public opinion and public interest. We may have any kind of 
government we want, if we only want it badly enough, and only 
when we want it badly enough. The blame for inefficiency 
and wastefulness on the part of government at Washington, 
or at the state capital, or in the city hall, rests largely with 
the people back home, who are either selfish or blind to the fact 
that the interests of the nation are larger than their own or 
those of their own little community. The very people who talk 
most loudly about the extravagance of government, or about 
the burden of taxes, are likely to be the ones who expect most 
from their congressmen for purely personal or local advantage. 
They are likely to judge their representative's fitness for his 

^ Willoughby, "National Budget System," The Weekly Reiieiv, June i8, 1921. 
2 Will Payne, "Your Budget," Saturday Evening Post, January 3, 1920, p. 30. 



OUR NATIONAL GOVERNMENT 547 

position more by his ability to get funds from the public treasury 
for local gratification than by his attitude toward great national 
questions. 

Who is the present Speaker of the House of Representatives? 

Who are some of the more prominent leaders of both political parties 
in the House of Representatives? In the Senate? 

What are some of the more important committees in each House of 
Congress? 

Report on the procedure by which a bill becomes a law, from the time 
when it is introduced until it goes into effect as the law of the land (see 
reference to Beard, in Readings). 

What bills have been introduced by the representative from your district? 
By senators from your state? (The Congressional Record will give this 
information. It should be in your public library. Consult its index for the^-' 
names of your representative and senators.) 

Follow and report on the course of debate on some important question 
before Congress (see Congressional Record). 

What is meant by "filibustering" in Congress? 

What are the reasons for the privileges conferred upon members of Con- 
gress by Article I, section 6, clause i, of the Constitution? 

What is "log-rolling" in Congress? Why so called? 

Watch the newspapers and magazines for progress on the reorganization 
of the administrative departments of the government — creation of new 
departments or bureaus, consolidation of bureaus, transfer of activities 
from one bureau or department to another, etc. 

Report on the organization of the new national budget system. (Consult 
your librarian. A copy of the law may be obtained by writing to your 
Congressman.) 

Who is the director of the Bureau of the Budget? Who is the Comp- 
troller General? What are the duties of each? 

Why does publicity regarding the acts of our representatives in the 
government give the people greater control over them? 

Watch newspapers and magazines for accomplishments by the new 
Bureau of the Budget. 

Discuss the new budget system until you are sure you see why it should 
give the President greater leadership, and secure greater efficiency of service 
and greater control over government by the people. 

The judicial power of the United States government is vested 
by the Constitution "in one Supreme Court, and in such inferior 






548 COMMUNITY CIVICS 

courts as the Congress may from time to time ordain and 
establish" (Art. Ill, sec. i). The number of judges in the 
The national Supreme Court is determined by Congress, and 
judiciary ^]^gy g^j-g appointed by the President with the 

advice and consent of the Senate. At present the Supreme 
Court consists of a chief justice and eight associate justices. 
Congress has created circuit courts of appeals, of which there are 
now nine, each ''circuit" including several states; and district 
courts, of which there is at least one in every state, and some- 
times several. In addition to these there is a court of customs 
appeals and a court of claims, for special classes of cases. The 
courts of the District of Columbia are also United States courts, 
inasmuch as the District is governed entirely by the national 
government. The judges of all United States courts are ap- 
pointed by the President and hold office for life. 

The powers of the federal courts are stated in Article III, sec- 
tion 2, of the Constitution. In general, they have jurisdiction 
Powers of ^^^^ cases of a national or interstate character, 
the federal Most cases that come in the first instance before the 
federal courts are tried in the United States district 
courts, going to the higher courts only on appeal; but there are 
certain classes of cases that go to the Supreme Court at once (Art. 
Ill, sec. 2, cl. 2). A case brought to trial before a state court may 
be appealed to the Supreme Court of the United States when the 
Constitution, the laws, or the treaties of the United States 
are involved, and its decision is final. The Supreme Court may 
declare a law passed by Congress or an act of the President 
null and void if, in its opinion, such law or act is contrary to the 
provisions of the Constitution. It has been questioned whether 
the framers of the Constitution intended the Supreme Court 
to have this power, but it exercises the power on the ground that 
the Constitution is the supreme law of the land to which even 
Congress and the President are subject, and that it is the sacred 
duty of the courts to preserve it from violation. 



OUR NATIONAL GOVERNMENT 549 

Study the powers of the federal courts in Article III, sections i and 2 
What is treason?' (Art. Ill, sec. 3, cl. i.) 

What is meant by the second clause in section 3 of Article III? 
Who is the present Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the United 
States? 

READINGS 

Guerrier, Edith, The Federal Executive Departments, Bulletin, igig, No. 74 

U.S. Bureau of Education. 
Swanton, W. I., Guide to United States Government Publications, Bulletin, 1918, 

No. 2, U.S. Bureau of Education. 

In Lessons in Community and National Life: 

Series A: Lesson 12, History of the federal departments. 

Lesson 18, Local and national governments. 
Series B: Lesson 13, The Department of the Interior. 

Lesson 14, The United States Public Health Service. 

Lesson 21, National standards and the Bureau of Standards. 

In Foerster and Pierson's American Ideals: 

The nature of the Union (Daniel Webster), pp. 17-26. 

The nature of the Union (John C. Calhoun), pp. 27-44. 

Jefferson's First Inaugural Address, pp. 59-64. 

The frame of the national government (Bryce), pp. 285-300. 

Criticism of the federal system (Bryce), pp. 301-31 1. 

Merits of the federal system (Bryce), pp. 312-321. 
Beard, C. A., American Government and Politics, Part ii, especially chaps, xi and xiv 
Hart, A. B., Actual Government, Part v. The National Government in Action. 
Bryce, James, The American Commonwealth, vol. I, Part i. 
Wilson, Woodrow, Congressional Government (Houghton Mifflin Co.) . 
Haskin, F. J., The American Government (Lippincott). 
Young, The New American Government (Macmillan). 



APPENDIX 

THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES 

Preamble 

"We, the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect 
union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquillity, provide for the com- 
mon defence, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty 
to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution 
for the United States of America. 

ARTICLE I. The Legislative Department 

Section I. Congress in General 

All legislative powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the 
United States, which shall consist of a Senate and House of Representa- 
tives. 

Section II. House of Representatives 

1st Clause. The House of Representatives shall be composed of members 
chosen every second year by the people of the several States, and the elec- 
tors in each State shall have the qualifications requisite for electors of the 
most numerous branch of the State legislature. 

2d Clause. No person shall be a representative who shall not have 
attained to the age of twenty-five years, and been seven years a citizen 
of the United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an inhabitant of 
that State in which he shall be chosen. 

3d Clause. Representatives and direct taxes shall be apportioned among 
the several States which may be included within this Union, according to 
their respective numbers, which shall be determined by adding to the whole 
number of free persons, including those bound to service for a term of years, 
and, excluding Indians not taxed, three-fifths of all other persons. The 
actual enumeration shall be made within three years after the first meeting 
of the Congress of the United States, and within every subsequent term of 
ten years, in such manner as they shall by law direct. The number of rep- 

551 



552 APPENDIX 

resentatives shall not exceed one for every thirty thousand, but each State 
shall have at least one representative ; and until such enumeration shall be 
made, the State of New Hampshire shall be entitled to choose three, Massa- 
chusetts eight, Rhode Island and Providence Plantations one, Connecticut 
five, New York six. New Jersey four, Pennsylvania eight, Delaware one, 
Maryland six, Virginia ten, North Carolina five. South Carolina 'five, and 
Georgia three. 

4th Clause. When vacancies happen in the representation from any State, 
the executive authority thereof shall issue writs of election to fill such vacan- 
cies. 

5tli Clause. The House of Representatives shall choose their Speaker and 
other officers ; and shall have the sole power of impeachment. 

Section III. The Senate. 

1st Clause. The Senate of the United States shall be composed of fwo 
senators from each State, shosen by the legislature thereof, for six years; 
and each senator shall have one vote. 

2d Clause. Immediately after they shaU be assembled in consequence of 
the first election, they shall be divided as equally as may be into three 
classes. The seats of the senators of the first class shall be vacated at the 
expiration of the second year, of the second class at the expiration of the 
fourth year, and of the third class at the expiration of the sixth year, so 
that one- third may be chosen every second year; and if vacancies happen 
by resignation, or otherwise, during the recess of the legislature of any 
State, the executive thereof may make temporary appointments until the 
next meeting of the legislature, which shall then fill such vacancies. 

3d Clause. No person shall be a senator who shall not have attained to 
the age of thirty years, and been nine years a citizen of the United States, 
and who shall not, when elected, be an inhabitant of that State for which 
he shall be chosen. 

Jith Clause. The Vice-President of the United States shall be President 
of the Senate, but shall have no vote, unless they be equally divided. 

5th Clause. The Senate shall choose their other officers, and also a Presi- 
dent pro tempore, in the absence of the Vice-President, or when he shall 
exercise the office of President of the United States. 

6th Clause. The Senate shall have the sole power to try all impeachments. 
When sitting for that purpose, they shall all be on oath or afiirmation. 
When the President of the United States is tried, the Chief Justice shall 
preside; and no person shall be convicted without the concurrence of two- 
thirds of the members present. 



GONSTITUTIOINr OF THE UNITED STATES 553 

7th Clause. Judgment in cases of impeachment shall not extend further 
ihan to removal from office, and disqualification to hold and enjoy any 
office of honor, trust, or profit under the United States; but the party con- 
victed shall nevertheless be liab'e and subject to indictment, trial, judgment, 
and punishment, according to law. 

Section IV. Both Houses. 

1st Clause. The times, places, and manner of holding elections for sen- 
ators and representatives, shall be prescribed in each State by the legis- 
lature thereof; but the Congress may at any time by law make or alter such 
regulations, except as to the places of choosing senators. 

M Clause. The Congress shall assemble at least once in every year, and 
such meeting shall be on the first Monday in December, unless they shall 
by law appoint a different day. 

Section V. The Houses Separately. 

1st Clause. Each house shall be the judge of the elections, returns, and 
qualifications of its own members, and a majority of each shall constitute 
a quorum to do business; but a smaller number may adjourn from day to 
day, and may be authorized to compel the attendance of absent members, 
in such manner and under such penalties as each house may provide. 

M Clause. Each house may determine the rules of its proceedings, punish 
its members for disorderly behavior, and, with the concurrence of two- 
thirds, expel a member. 

3d Clause. Each house shall keep a journal of its proceedings, and from 
time to time publish the same, excepting such parts as may in their judg- 
ment require secrecy; and the yeas and nays of the members of either house 
on any question shall, at the desire of one-fifth of those present, be entered 
on the journal. 

4th Clause. Neither house, during the session of Congress, shall, without 
the consent of the other, adjourn for more than three days, nor to any other 
place than that in which the two houses shall be sitting. 

Section VI. Privileges and Disabilities of Members. 

1st Clause. The senators and representatives shall receive a compen- 
sation for their services, to be ascertained by law, and paid out of the treas- 
ury of the United States. They shall, in all cases except treason, felony 
and breach of the peace, be privileged from arrest during their attendance 
at the session of their respective houses, and in going to and returning from 



554 APPENDIX 

the same; and for any speech or debate in either house, they shall not be 
questioned in any other place. 

2d Clause. No senator or representative shall, during the time for which 
he was elected, be appointed to any civil office under the authority of the 
United States, which shall have been created, or the emolimients whereof 
shall have been increased during such time; and no person holding any 
office under the United States shall be a member of either house during his 
continuance in office. 

Section VII. Mode of 'passing Laws. 

1st Clause. All bills for raising revenue shall originate in the House of 
Representatives; but the Senate may propose or concur with amendments 
as on other bills. 

2d Clause. Every bill which shall have passed the House of Representa- 
tives and the Senate shall, before it become a law, be presented to the 
President of the United States ; if he approve he shall sign it, but if not he 
shall return it, with his objections, to that house in which it shall have 
originated, who shall enter the objections at large on their journal, and 
proceed to reconsider it. If after such reconsideration two-thirds of that 
house shall agree to pass the bill, it shall be sent, together with the objec- 
tions, to the other house, by which it shall likewise be reconsidered, and if 
approved by two-thirds of that house, it shall become a law. But in all 
such cases the votes of both houses shall be determined by yeas and nays, 
and the names of the persons voting for and against the bill shall be entered 
on the journal of each house respectively. If any bill shall not be returned 
by the President within ten days (Sundays excepted) after it shall have 
been presented to him, the same shall be a law, in like manner as if he had 
signed it, unless the Congress by their adjournment prevent its return, in 
which case it shall not be a law. 

Sd Clause. Every order, resolution, or vote to which the concurrence 
of the Senate and House of Representatives may be necessary (except on a 
question of adjournment) shall be presented to the President of the United 
States ; and before the same shall take effect, shall be approved by him, or 
being disapproved by him, shall be repassed by two-thirds of the Senate 
and House of Representatives, according to the rules and limitations pre- 
scribed in the case of a bill. 



CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES 555 

Section VIII. Powers granted to Congress. 

The Congress shall have power — 

1st Clause. To lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts, and excises, to 
pay the debts, and provide for the common defence and general welfare of 
the United States; but all duties, imposts, and excises shall be uniform 
throughout the United States; 

M Clause. To borrow money on the credit of the United States; 

Sd Clause. To regulate commerce with foreign nations, and among the 
several States, and with the Indian tribes ; 

j^h Clause. To establish a uniform rule of naturalization, and uniform 
laws on the subject of bankruptcies throughout the United States; 

6th Clause. To coin money, regulate the value thereof, and of foreign 
coin, and fix the standard of weights and measures; 

6th Clause. To provide for the punishment of counterfeiting the securities 
and current coin of the United States; 

7th Clause. To establish post-offices and post-roads; 

8th Clause. To promote the progress of science and useful arts, by secur- 
ing for limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their 
respective writings and discoveries; 

9th Clause. To constitute tribunals inferior to the Supreme Court ; 

10th Clause. To define and punish piracies and felonies committed on the 
high seas, and offences against the law of nations; 

11th Clause. To declare war, grant letters of marque and reprisal, and 
make rules concerning captures on land and water; 

12th Clause. To raise and support armies; but no appropriation of money 
to that use shall be for a longer term than two years; 

13th Clause. To provide and maintain a navy; 

IJith Clause. To make rules for the government and regulation of the 
land and naval forces ; 

15th Clause. To provide for calling forth the militia to execute the laws 
of the Union, suppress insurrections, and repel invasions; 

16th Clause. To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining the 
miHtia, and for governing such part of them as may be employed in the 
service of the United States, reserving to the States respectively the 
appointment of the officers, and the authority of training the mihtia accord- 
ing to the discipline prescribed by Congress ; 

17th Clause. To exercise exclusive legislation in all cases whatsoever, 
over such district (not exceeding ten miles square) as may, by cession of 
particular States, and the acceptance of Congress, become the seat_ of the 
Government of the United States; and to exercise like authority over all 



556 APPENDIX 

places purchased by the consent of the legislature of the State in which the 
same shall be, for the erection of forts, magazines, arsenals, dock-yards, 
and other needful buildings ; — and 

18th Clause. To make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for 
carrying into execution the foregoing powers, and all other powers vested 
by this Constitution in the government of the United States, or in any 
department or officer thereof. 

Section IX. Powers denied to the United States. 

1st Clause. The migration or importation of such persons as any of the 
States now existing shall think proper to admit, shall not be prohibited by 
the Congress prior to the year one thousand eight hundred and eight, but a 
tax or duty may be imposed on such importation, not exceeding ten dollars 
for each person. 

£d Clause. The privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not be sus- 
pended, unless when in cases of rebellion or invasion the pubUc safety may 
require it. 

3d Clause. No bill of attainder or ex post facto law shall be passed. 

^h Clause. No capitation, or other direct tax shall be laid, unless in pro- 
portion to the census or enumeration hereinbefore directed to be taken. 

5th Clause. No tax or duty shall be laid on articles exported from any 
State. 

6th Clause. No preference shall be given by any regulation of commerce 
or revenue to the ports of one State over those of another; nor shall vessels 
bound to, or from, one State, be obliged to enter, clear, or pay duties in 
another. 

7th Clause. No money shall be drawn from the treasury, but in conse- 
quence of appropriations made by law ; and a regular statement and account 
of the receipts and expenditures of all public money shall be published from 
time to time. 

8th Clause. No title of nobility shall be granted by the United States; 
and no person holding any office of profit or trust under them shall, with- 
out the consent of Congress, accept of any present, emolument, office, or 
title, of any kind whatever, from any king, prince, or foreign State. 

Section X. Powers- denied to the States. 

1st Clause. No State shall enter into any treaty, alliance, or confedera- 
tion; grant letters of marque and reprisal; coin money; emit bills of credit; 
make anything but gold and silver coin a tender in payment of debts; pass 



CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES 557 

any bill of attainder, ex post facto law, or law impairing the obligation of con- 
tracts, or grant any title of nobility. 

M Clause. No State shall, without the consent of the Congress, lay any 
imposts or duties on imports or exports, except what may be absolutely 
necessary for executing its inspection laws ; and the net produce of all duties 
and imposts, laid by any State on imports or exports, shall be for the use 
of the treasury of the United States ; and all such laws shall be subject to the 
revision and control of the Congress. 

3d Clause. No State shall, without the consent of Congress, lay any duty 
of tonnage, keep troops, or ships of war in time of peace, enter into any 
agreement or compact with another State or with a foreign power, or engage 
in war, unless actually invaded, or in such imminent danger as will not 
admit of delay. 

ARTICLE II. The Executive Department. 

Section I. President and Vice-President. 

1st Clause. The executive power shall be vested in a President of the 
United States of America. He shall hold his office during the term of four 
years, and, together with the Vice-President, chosen for the same term, be 
elected as follows: 

M Clause. Each State shall appoint, in such manner as the legislature 
thereof may direct, a number of electors, equal to the whole number of sen- 
ators and representatives to which the State may be entitled in the Congress. 
But no senator or representative, or person holding an office of trust or 
profit under the United States, shall be appointed an elector. 

[The 3d clause has been superseded by the 12th article of Amendments. 
See page xix.] 

j^h Clause. The Congress may determine the time of choosing the elec- 
tors, and the day on which they shall give their votes, which day shall be 
the same throughout the United States. 

5th Clause. No person except a natural-born citizen, or a citizen of the 
United States at the time of the adoption of this Constitution, shall be 
eligible to the office of President; neither shall any person be eligible to 
that office who shall not have attained to the age of thirty-five years, and 
been fourteen years a resident within the United States. 

6th Clause. In case of the removal of the President from office, or of his 
death, resignation, or inability to discharge the powers and duties of the 
Baid office, the same shall devolve on the Vice-President; and the Congress 
may by law provide for the case of removal, death, resignation, or inability. 



558 APPENDIX 

both of the President and Vice-President, declaring what officer shall then 
act as President, and such officer shall act accordingly, until the disability 
be removed, or a President shall be elected. 

7th Clause. The President shall, at stated times, receive for his services 
a compensation, which shall neither be increased nor diminished during the 
period for which he shall have been elected, and he shall not receive within 
that period any other emolument from the United States, or any of them. 

8th Clause. Before he enter on the execution of his office, he shall take 
the following oath or affirmation : — 

" I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the office 
of President of the United States, and will, to the best of my ability, pre- 
serve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States." 

Section II. Powers of the President. 

1st Clause. The President shall be commander-in-chief of the army and 
navy of the United States, and of the militia of the several States, when 
called into the actual service of the United States ; he may require the opin- 
ion, in writing, of the principal officer in each of the executive departments, 
upon any subject relating to the duties of their respective offices, and he 
shall have power to grant reprieves and pardons for offences against the 
United States, except in cases of impeachment. 

. 2d Clause. He shall have power, by and with the advice and consent of 
the Senate, to make treaties, provided two-thirds of the senators present 
concur; and he shall nominate, and by and with the advice and consent of 
the Senate, shall appoint, ambassadors, other public ministers and con- 
suls, judges of the Supreme Court, and all other officers of the United States, 
whose appointments are not herein otherwise provided for, and which shall 
be established by law; but the Congress may by law vest the appointment 
of such inferior officers, as they think proper, in the President alone, in the 
courts of law, or in the heads of departments. 

3d Clause. The President shall have power to fill up all vacancies that 
may happen during the recess of the Senate, by granting commissions, 
which shall expire at the en^ of their next session. 

Section III. Duties of the President. 

He shall from time to time give to the Congress information of the state 
of the Union, and recommend to their consideration such measures as he 
shall judge necessary and expedient; he may, on extraordinary occasions 
convene both houses, or either of them, and in case of disagreement be- 
tween them with respect to the time of adjournment, he may adjourn them 



CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES 559 

to such time as lie shall think proper; he shall receive ambassadors and other 
public ministers; he shall take care that the laws be faithfully executed, and 
shall commission all the officers of the United States. 

Section IV. Impeachment of the President. 

The President, Vice-President, and all civil officers of the United States, 
shall be removed from office on impeachment for, and convietion of, treason, 
bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors. 

ARTICLE III. The Judicial Department. 

Section I. The United States Courts. 

The judicial power of the United States shall be vested in one Supreme 
Court, and in such inferior courts as the Congress may from time to time 
ordain and establish. The judges, both of the Supreme and inferior courts, 
shall hold their offices during good behavior, and shall, at stated times, 
receive for their services a compensation, which shall not be diminished 
during their continuance in office. 

Section II. Jurisdiction of the United States Courts. 

1st Clause. The judicial power shall extend to all cases, in law and equity 
arising under this Constitution, the laws of the United States, and treaties 
made, or which shall be made, under their authority; to all cases affecting 
ambassadors, other public ministers, and consuls; to all cases of admiralty 
and maritime jurisdiction ; to controversies to which the United States shall 
be a party; to controversies between two or more States; between a State 
and citizens of another State ; between citizens of different States ; between 
citizens of the same State cTSiming lands under grants of different States, 
and between a State, or the citizens thereof, and foreign states, citizens, or 
subjects. 

M Clause. In all cases affecting ambassadors, other public ministers and 
consuls, and those in which a State shall be a party, the Supreme Court 
shall have original jurisdiction. In all the other cases before mentioned, 
the Supreme Court shall have appellate jurisdiction, both as to law and fact, 
with such exceptions and under such regulations as the Congress shall make. 

Sd Clause. The trial of all crimes, except in cases of impeachment, shall 
be by jury; and such trial shall be held in the State where the said crimes 
shall have been committed; but when not committed within any State, 
the trial shall be at such place or places as the Congress may by law ha.V9 
directed. 



560 APPENDIX 

Section III. Treason, 

1st Claiise, Treason against the United States shall consist only in levying 
war against them, or in adhering to their enemies, giving them aid and com- 
fort. No person shall be convicted of treason unless on the testimony of 
two witnesses to the same overt act, or on confession in open court. 

M Clause. The Congress shall have power to declare the punishment of 
treason, but no attainder of treason shall work corruption of blood, or for- 
feiture except during the life of the person attainted. 

ARTICLE IV. Miscellaneous Provisions. 

Section I. State Records. 

Full faith and Tedit shall be given in each State to the public acts, 
records, and juJioial ^ roceedings of every other State. And the Congress 
may by general laws prescribe the manner in which such acts, records, and 
proceedings shall be proved, and the effect thereof. 

Section II. Privileges of Citizens. 

1st Clause. The citizens of each State shall be entitled to all privileges 
and immunities of citizens in the several States. 

2d Clause. A person charged in any State with treason, felony, or other 
crime, who shall flee from justice, and be found in another State, shall, on, 
demand of the executive authority of the State from which he fled, be 
delivered up, to be removed to the State having jurisdiction of the crime. 

3d Clause. No person held to service or labor in one State, under the 
laws thereof, escaping into another, shall, in consequence of any law or 
regulation therein, be discharged from such service or labor, but shall be 
delivered up on claim of the party to whom such service or labor may be due. 

Section III. New States and Territories. 

1st Clause. New States may be admitted by the Congress into this Union ; 
but no new State shall be formed or erected within the jurisdiction of any 
other State; nor any State be formed by the junction of two or more States 
or parts of States, without the consent of the legislatures of the States 
concerned as well as of the Congress. 

M Clause. The Congress shall have power to dispose of and make all 
needful rules and regulations respecting the territory or other property 
belonging to the United States; and nothing in this Constitution shall be 
t;o construed as to prejudice any claims of the United States or of any partio- 
ular State. 



CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES 561 

Section IV. Guarantees to the States. 

The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a repub- 
lican form of government, and shall protect each of them against invasion; 
and on application of the legislature, or of the executive (when the legis- 
lature cannot be convened), against domestic violence. 

ARTICLE V. Powers of Amendment. 

The Congress, whenever two-thirds of both houses shall deem it necessary, 
chall propose amendments to this Constitution, or, on the application of 
the legislatures of two-thirds of the several States, shall call a convention 
for proposing amendments, which, in either case, shall be valid, to all intents 
and purposes, as part of this Constitution, when ratified by the legislatures 
of three-fourths of the several States, or by conventions in three-fourths 
thereof, as the one or the other mode of ratification may be proposed by the 
Congress: provided that no amendment which may be made prior to the 
year one thousand eight hundred and eight shall in any manner affect the 
first and fourth clauses in the ninth section of the first article ; and that no 
State, without its consent, shall be deprived of its equal suffrage in the 
Senate. . 

ARTICLE VI. Public Debt, Supremacy of the Constitution, Oath 
OF Office, Religious Test. 

1st Clause, All debts contracted and engagements entered into before the 
adoption of this Constitution, shall be as valid against the United States 
under this Constitution, as under the Confederation. 

M Clause. This Constitution, and the laws of the United States which 
shall be made in pursuance thereof, and all treaties made, or which shall be 
made, under the authority of the United States, shall be the supreme law 
of the land; and the judges in every State shall be bound thereby, anything 
in the Constitution or laws of any State to the contrary notwithstanding. 

3d Clause. The senators and representatives before mentioned, and the 
members of the several State legislatures, and all executive and judicial 
officers, both of the United States and of the several States, shall be bound 
by oath or affirmation to support this Constitution; but no religious test 
shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under 
the United States. 



562 APPENDIX 

ARTICLE VII. Ratification of the CoNSTrrunoN. 

The ratification of the conventions of nine States shall be sufficient for 
the estabhshment of this Constitution between the States so ratifying the 
same. 

AMENDMENTS 

i>ROPOSED *BY CONGRESS AND RATIFIED BY THE LEGISLATURES OF THE SEVERAIi 
STATES, PURSUANT TO THE FIFTH ARTICLE OF THE ORIGINAL CONSTITUTION. 

Article I. Freedom of Religion. 

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, of 
prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech or 
of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition 
the government for a redress of grievances. 

Article II. Right to hear Arms. 

A well-regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state, 
the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed. 

Article III. Quartering Soldiers on Citizens. 
No soldier shall, in time of peace, be quartered in any house without the 
consent of the owner, nor in time of war but in a manner to be prescribed 
by law. 

Article IV. Search Warrants. 

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, 
and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be vio- 
lated, and no warrants shall issue but upon probable cause, supported by 
oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, 
and the persons or things to be seized. 

Article V. Trial for Crime. 

No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous 
crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a grand jury, except in cases 
arising in the land or naval forces, or in the militia, when in actual service 
in time of war or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the 
same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb ; nor shall be com- 
pelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived 
of life, liberty, or property without due process of law; nor shall private 
property be taken for public use without just compensation. 



CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES 563 

Article VI. Rights of Accused Persons. 

In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy 
and public trial by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the 
crime shall have been committed, which district shaU have been previously 
ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the aucc- 
sation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compul- 
sory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the assistance 
of counsel for his defence. 

Article VII. Suits at Common Law. 

In suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed 
twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact 
tried by a jury shall be otherwise re-examined in any court of the United 
States than according to the rules of the common law. 

Article VIII. Excessive Bail. 

Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor 
cruel and unusual punishments inflicted. 

Article IX. Rights Retained by the People. 

The enumeration in the Constitution of certain rights shall not be con- 
strued to deny or disparage others retained by the people. 

Article X. Reserved Rights of the States. 

The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor 
prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to 
the people. 

Article XI. 

The judicial power of the United States shall not be construed to extend 
to any suit, in law or equity, commenced or prosecuted against one of the 
United States by citizens of another State, or by citizens or subjects of 
any foreign state. 

Article XII. 

1st Clause. The electors shall meet in their respective States, and vote 
by ballot for President and Vice-President, one of whom, at least, shall not 
be an inhabitant of the same State with themselves; they shall name in their 
ballots the person voted for as President, and in distinct ballots the person 
voted for as Vice-President, and they shall make distinct lists of all persons 



564 APPENDIX 

voted for as President, and of all persons voted for as Vice-President, and 
of the number of votes for each, which lists they shall sign and certify, and 
transmit sealed to the seat of the government of the United States, directed 
to the President of the Senate; the President of the Senate shall, in presence 
of the Senate and House of Representatives, open all the certificates, and 
the votes shall then be counted ; the person having the greatest number of 
votes for President shall be the President, if such number be a majority of 
the whole number of electors appointed; and if no person have such major- 
ity, then from the persons having the highest numbers, not exceeding three 
on the list of those voted for as President, the House of Representatives 
shall choose immediately, by ballot, the President. But in choosing the 
President, the votes shall be taken by States, the representation from each 
State having one vote ; a quorum for this purpose shall consist of a member 
or members from two-thirds of the States, and a majority of all the States 
shall be necessary to a choice. And if the House of Representatives shall 
not choose a President whenever the right of choice shall devolve upon 
them, before the fourth day of March next following, then the Vice-Presi- 
dent shall act as President, as in the case of the death or other consti- 
tutional disability of the President. 

2d Clause. The person having the greatest number of votes as Vice- 
President shall be the Vice-President, if such number be a majority of the 
whole number of electors appointed; and if no person have a majority, then 
from the two highest numbers on the list the Senate shall choose the Vice- 
President ; a quorum for the purpose shall consist of two-thirds of the whole 
number of senators, and a majority of the whole number shall be necessary 
to a choice. 

3d Clause. But no person constitutionally ineligible to the office of Presi- 
dent shall be eligible to that of Vice-President of the United States. 

Article XIII. 

Section I. Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punish- 
ment for crime, whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall 
exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction. 

Sec. II. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate 
legislation. 

Article XIV'. 

Section I. All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and 
subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of 
the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law 
which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United 



CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES 565 

States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, 
without due process of law, nor deny any person within its jurisdiction the 
equal protection of the laws. 

, Sec. II. Representatives shall be apportioned among the several States 
according to their respective numbers, counting the whole number of per- 
sons in each State, excluding Indians not taxed. But when the right to 
vote at any election for the choice of electors for President and Vice-Presi- 
dent of the United States, representatives in Congress, the executive and 
judicial officers of a State, or the members of the legislature thereof, is 
denied to any of the male inhabitants of such State, being twenty-one 
years of age, and citizens of the United States, or in any way abridged, 
except for participation in rebellion or other crime, the basis of representa- 
tion therein shall be reduced in the proportion which the number of such 
male citizens ^hall bear to the whole number of male citizens twenty-one 
years of age in such State. 

Sec. hi. No person shall be a senator or representative in Congress, or 
elector of President and Vice-President, or hold any office, civil or military, 
under the United States, or under any State, who, having previously taken 
an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or 
as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer 
of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have 
engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or com- 
fort to the enemies thereof. But Congress may by a vote of two-thirds 
of each house, remove such disability. 

Sec. IV. The vahdity of the public debt of the United States, author- 
ized by law, including debts incurred for payment of pensions and bounties 
for services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion, shall not be questioned. 
But neither the United States nor any State shall assume or pay any debt 
or obligation incurred in aid of insurrection or rebellion against the United 
States, or any claim for the loss or emancipation of any slave ; but all such 
debts, obligations, and claims shall be held illegal and void. 

Sec. V. The Congress shall have power to enforce, by appropriate legis- 
lation, the provisions of this article. 

Article XV. 

Section I. The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not 
be denied or abridged by the United States, or by any State, on account of 
race, color, or previous condition of servitude. 

Sec. II. The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appro- 
piiate legislation. 



566 APPENDIX 

Article XVI. 

The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes on incomes, 
from whatever source derived, without apportionment among the several 
States, and without regard to any census or enumeration. 

Article XVII. 

Section I. The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two 
Senators from each State, elected by the people thereof, for six years; 
and each Senator shall have one vote. The electors in each State shall 
have the quahfications requisite for electors of the most numerous branch 
of the State Legislatures. 

Sec. II. When vacancies happen in the representation of any State 
in the Senate, the executive authority of such State shall issue writs of 
election to fiU such vacancies : Provided that the Legislature of any State 
may empower the executive thereof to make temporary appointments 
untn the people fill the vacancies by election as the Legislature may direct. 

Sec. hi. This amendment shall not be so construed as to affect the 
election or term of any Senator chosen before it becomes valid as part of 
the Constitution. 

Article XVIII. 

Section I. After one year from the ratification of this article, the 
manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating hquors within, the 
importation thereof into, or the exportation thereof from, the United 
States and all territory subject to the jurisdiction thereof, for beverage 
purposes, is hereby prohibited. 

Sec. II. The Congress and the several States shall have concurrent 
power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation. 

Sec. III. This article shall be inoperative unless it shall have been 
ratified as an amendment to the Constitution by the legislatures of the 
several States, as provided in the Constitution, within seven years from 
the date of the submission thereof to the States by the Congress. 



Article XIX. 

Section 1. The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not 
be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account 
of sex. 

Sect. 2. The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by 
appropriate legislation. 



INDEX 



Abstract of title, 394 

Academies, 136 

Academy, military, 240; naval, 156 

Accidents, 128, 162-167, 191, 236, 

245, 323, 401, 408 

Accounting, 501 

Accounts, 309, 310, 423, 465, 466, 
468,509 

Administrative departments, 474, 
482, 484, 485, 489, 510, 529, 543, 
545; machinery, 347; officers, 497; 
supervision, 480, 481 

Advertisements, 216, 247 

Aesthetic wants, 196, 208-220 

Agricultural boards, 347; colleges, 
152, 154, 155, 320, 457 

Agriculture, 84, 97, 375, 376; depart- 
ment of, 180, 191, 233, 271, 311, 
3^3, 320, 362, 376, 383, 531; secre- 
tary of, 272, 531 

Air, pure, 12, 1 69-1 71 

Airplanes, 21, 82, 94, 95, 253 

Akron, O., 489 

Alabama, 225 

Alaska, 73, 156, 246, 247, 371 

Albania, 112 

Aldermen, 473, 489 

AHens, 59, 366, 431 

Allegiance, pledge of, 55 

Alleys, 121 

Almshouse, 403, 404, 405, 407 

Alphabet, 243 

Amendments, 493, 494, 519, 520, 521, 

538 

America First, 104 

American Child Hygiene Associa- 
tion, 192 

American Federation of Labor, 335 



American Peace Society, 99 
American Peace and Arbitration 

League, 99 
American Red Cross, 163, 192 
American School Citizenship League, 

99 
Amusements, 128, 202, 203, 205 
Annapolis, Md., 156 
Anti-Trust Law, 275 
Apartment houses, 3, 116, 122, 123, 

172, 215, 216 
Appointments, 538 
Appropriations, 148, 422, 451, 459, 

461, 509, 541, 545 
Arbitration, 99, loi, 337; court of, 

100 
Architecture, 211, 213, 455 
Argentine Republic, 20 
Arizona, 377, 37^, 515 
Arlington county, Va., 189, 192 
Armaments, reduction of, 241 
Army, 77, 78, 88, 89, 137, 154, 156, 

161, 244; national, 239 
Art, 209, 216, 218; commission, 215, 

218 
Articles of Confederation, 517, 519 
Asia, 95, 99 
Assay offices, 349 
Assessment, 423, 425, 427 
Assessors, 425, 426, 451, 460, 462, 470 
Association, 3; of nations, 103 
Associations for cooperation, 31, 87, 

171, 205 
Asylums, 405 
Attorney, district, 513; Prosecuting, 

513; States, 513 
Attorney General, 497, 531 
Auditor, 462; General, 497 



567 



568 



INDEX 



Australia, 394 

Austria, 225 

Autocratic government, 50, 131, 435, 

517 
Autocracy, 443 
Automobiles, 165, 220, 260, 261, 265, 

268, 271, 305 

Bail, 416, 514 

Ballot, long, 463, 464, 465; secret, 

445, 446; short, 444, 466 
Baltimore, 63 
Bank account, 6; checks, 353, 354; 

commissioners, 347; national, 525; 

notes, 353 
Banks, 315, 347, 352-356; savings, 

317, 318; school, 317 
Barter, 349 
Bathing places, 204 
Beauty, 4, 5, 172, 207, 208-220, 267, 

268 
Belgian relief, 90 
Belgium, 307, 375 
Berkeley, Governor, 131 
Bethlehem Steel Works, 85 
Billboards, 216, 302 
Bills, legislative, 501, 505, 506, 509, 

538,539, 541 
Blacklist, 337 
Blind, 405 
Bolshevists, 339 
Bonds, 433, 437 

Borough, 64, 469, 470, 473, 477, 489 
Borrowing, 315, 316, 433 
Boss, pohtical, 443, 444, 446, 465, 

498, 499, 506, 541 
Bossism, 483, 484 
Boston, 211, 251, 258, 263, 387 
Boulevards, 217, 218 
Boycott, 337 
Boy Scouts, 36, 206 
Bridges, 215, 216, 218, 461 
Brookline, Mass., 198, 453 
Brooklyn Bridge, 71 
Bryce, James, 475 



Budget, 309, 310, 423; Act, 544; 

bureau of, 544, 545; exhibit, 181; 

system, 510, 544-546 
Buffalo, N. Y., 379 
Building regulation, 122, 229, 230 
Building and loan associations, 319, 

320 
Builduigs, 215, 218; public, 238, 433, 

455, 461 
Burbank, Luther, 76 
Burglars, 235 
Burglary, 228 
Business, 18, 29, 47, 287, 288, 339, 

340, 346 
By-laws, 450 
By-products, 313, 382 

Cabinet, 87, 408, 529, 530, 536, 542 
Cable, submarine, 95, 254 
California, 233) 270, 377, 466, 468, 

480, 515 _ 
Campfire Girls, 206 
Canada, 47 
Canals, 269, 277 
Candidates, 444, 447, 454, 463, 464, 

485, 527, 533 
Capital, 69, 289, 302, 314, 315, 317, 

328-343, 353, 361, 368, 427; 
national, 76, 86, 121, 122 

Capitalism, 329 

Capitalistic system, 329 

Capitahsts, 320, 329-343 

Capitol, 496, 499, 502, 536 

Carelessness, 225, 226, 230, 252, 323 

Carnegie Endowment for Interna- 
tional Peace, 99 

Caucus, 454 

Census, 113, 431; bureau, 191,, 355, 

363, 531, 540 

Center, civic, 218; community, 144, 
204; market, 275; recreation, 204; 
trade, 67, 68 

Charities, department of, 403; com- 
missioner of, 403 

Charity, 406; organization, 407 



INDEX 



569 



Charters, 148, 273, 468, 476, 477, 

479, 480 
Checks and balances, 523, 524, 535, 

537 
Chicago, 177, 197, 216, 225, 234, 257, 

260 
Child health organization, 192; labor, 

128 
Children, 125, 163 

Children's bureau, 157, 191, 364, 531 
Choice, 294, 295, 297, 305, 307, 438, 

443, 445 
Christian County, Ky., 69, 70, 268 
Christianity, 98 
Church, 5, 30, 32, 125, 126, 170, 221- 

223, 439, 450; Peace Union, 99 
Churches, 171, 405, 406 
Cincinnati, O., 118, 119 
Cities, growth of, 231 
Citizenships 42, 54-61, 113, 129, 

137, 196, 207, 226, 282, 302, 366, 

418, 490 
City government, 470, 473-492, 493, 

497 

City manager, 475; plan, 188, 475, 
486, 487, 488 

City planning, 121, 171, 213-216, 
218; boards, 215 

Civil administrative code, 500; cases, 
511; law, 503, 511; rights, 58; 
service, 485, 532, 533; service com- 
mission, 480, 485, 533; suits, 512, 

513 
Civil War, 353, 438 
Civilization, 4 

Cleanliness, 12, 181, 209, 211 
Clerk, county, 462, 470; town, 451, 

460 
Cleveland, O., 122, 180, 477, 518 
Clinics, 138, 168, 185 
Clubs, 31, 32, 54, 320 
Coal, 382, 387 
Coin, 349, 351 

Collective bargaining, 335, 336 
College, 136 



Colleges, 84, 132, 154; agricultural, 
152, 154, 155, 320, 457 

Colonies, 131, 251, 421, 493, 517 

Colonists, 96, 349, 391, 392, 436, 450, 
461 

Colorado, 377; Fuel and Iron Com- 
pany, 341 

Commerce, 241, 269, 274, 278, 348, 
523, 525; chambers of, 32, iii; 
department of, 362, 363, 531; 
Bureau of foreign and domestic, 
531; Secretary of, 531 

Commerce Commission, Interstate, 
. 274, 361 

Commercial agents, 363 

Commission form of government, 
188, 474, 475,485, 486 

Committees, legislative, 483, 484, 505, 
506, 507, 539, 540, 541, 544, 545 

Commons, House of, 535, 536, 542 

Communication, 97, 243-256, 476 

Community, our, 62-74; national, 
75-92; world, 93-105 

Community centers, 144, 204; meet- 
ings, 458; singing, 218; spirit, 211, 
247 

Community life, common purposes, 
i-io; interdependence in, 12-24; 
cooperation in, 26-52; of the na- 
tion, 75-92; of the world, 93-105 

Community Service, Incorporated, 
206 

Compensation, 196, 339, 393, 396, 
415; laws, 408 

Competition, 324-327, 331, 360, 361, 
366 

Compromises, 537 

Comptroller, city, 489; of the cur- 
rency, 352 

Concerts, 204, 218 

Conciliation, 364 

Confederation, Articles of, 517, 519 

Confidence, 316, 318, 351, 355 

Conflict, 323, 324; between capital 
and labor, 327-343 



570 



INDEX 



Congress, 89, 113, 117, 142, 155, 156, 
180, 190, 221, 233, 239, 245, 251, 
253, 269, 272, 278, 317, 355, 356, 
357, 366, 370, 371, 375, 376, 377, 
383, 429,^31, 447, 474, 489, 517, 

524, 525, 528, 529, 533, 535, 537- 
542, 543, 544, 545,^546, 548 

Connecticut, 503 

Conscription, 88, 89 

Conservation, 34, 368-390 

Consolidation, church, 223; school, 
146, 147, 223 

Constable, 235, 451, 460 

Constabulary, 237 

Constitution, 102, 436, 441, 468, 493, 
517; state, 58, 150, 221, 393, 476, 
479, 480, 494, 495, 497, 499, 508, 
Sii, 513, 514, 515, 520, 539; United 
States, 50, 52, 58, 81, 190, 221, 245, 
247, 251, 253, 269, 275, 342, 347, 
366, 370, 392, 393, 396, 411, 415, 
416, 429, 430, 431, 436, 438, 441, 

493, 494, 513, 519, 520, 521, 522, 

525, 526, 527, 529, 534, 537, 538, 

547, 548 
Consuls, 100, 363 
Consumers, 326, 327, 360 
Contracts, 393, 484 
Control, 473, 481, 483, 484, 486, 487, 

499, 506, 523, 524, 534, 535, 537, 

542, 546 
Conventions, constitutional, 493, 

494, 518, 519; nominating, 436, 
446 

Convict labor, 271 

Convicts, 414 

Cooperation, 26-38, 40-53, 7°, 75, 
77, 79, 80, 88, 90, 97, 99, 109, 113, 
118, 163, 182, 184, 192, 197, 228, 
229, 232, 254, 257, 258, 268, 271, 
289, 319, 330, 334, 405, 406, 422, 
456, 469, 517, 519 

Copyrights, 348, 523 

Coroner, 462 

Corporations, 148, 149, 174, 273, 276, 



330-333, 33^, 361, 397, 398, 399, 
425, 475, 476, 481, 483; bureau of, 
531; close, 473; public service, 267 

Corruption, 416 

Cost of living, 201, 202, 275, 326, 327. 

338, 376 

Council, city, 148, 187, 398, 473, 474, 
477, 481, 483, 484, 485, 486; town, 
470; of National Defense, 87 

Counties, 104, 189, 235, 271, 436, 
493, 502 

County, 67, 68, 69, 70, 72, 145, 152, 
473, 476; commissioners, 461, 464, 
468; government, 450, 461-469, 
497; seat, 467 

Courthouse, 462, 464 

Courts, 58, loi, 123, 124, 148, 249, 
346, 394, 395, 414, 415, 416, 417, 
418, 431, 462, 467, 480, S11-515, 

523, 524, 525, 526, 547-548 
Covenant of the League of Nations, 

102, 103 
Credit, 316, 318, 353, 354, 356 
Crime, 117, 323, 410-418, 439, 495, 

511,512,513 
Criminal cases, 512, 513; law, 511 
Criminals, 237, 401, 410-418 
Cuba, 191, 255, 256 
Cumberland Road, 269 
Cumulative vote, 447 
Currency, 351; comptroller of the, 

352 
Custom, 47, 49, 346 
Custom house, 424, 430, 431 
Customs duties, 359 
Czar, 221 

Dance halls, 203 
Dane County, Wis., 67-69 
Dairies, 179 

Dayton, O., 403, 487, 488 
Dead letters, 252 
Deaf, 405 

Death, 160, 163, 511; penalty, 411; 
rate, 178 



INDEX 



571 



Declaration of Independence, 9, 10, 

22, 50, 51, 96 
Deed, 393, 394 
Deeds, recorder of, 393; register of, 

462 
Defectives, 185, 401, 402, 411; 

schools for, 154 
Defects, physical, 137-140, 160, 161, 

168, 288, 401 
Defense, 87, 89, 238; Act, 239; 

Council of National, 87 
Delegated powers, 521 
Delinquents, 154, 401, 410-418 
Democracy, 9, 22, 49, 50, 75, 90, 131, 

137, 149, 247, 249, 303, 345, 427, 

435, 438, 440, 443, 444, 455, 487, 

489, 538; industrial, 340 
Denver, 234, 349 
Dependence, 12-25, 283, 285, 288 
Dependency, 403, 404, 405, 411 
Dependents, 401-420 
Des Moines, 258, 259, 261, 263, 266, 

312, 395,486 
Despotism, 443 
Detroit, 64 

Diplomatic service, 100 
Discoveries, 4 
Disease, 16, 109, 123, 168, 170, 185, 

191, 323, 401, 405, 408 
Diseases, 163, 168, 171, 174, 184, 186, 

192; industrial, 173 
Dispensaries, 185 
Dissipation, 128, 202, 203 
District attorney, 462, 513 
District of Columbia, 121, 148, 489, 

548 
District court {see Courts) 
Districts, congressional, 537; election, 

502; senatorial, 502 
Divorce, 124-126 
Draft, selective, 88, 89, 239 
Dust, 12, 171, 173 
Duties, 57, 58; customs, 359, 429; 

protective, 359-361 
Dwelling, 30, in, 116 



Earning, 303, 305; a living, 56, 141, 
282-300, 323, 409; money, 6, 21 

East Orange, N. J., 198 

Economic interests, 345-367 

Economics, 290 

Education, 32, 40, 60, 80, 97, 107, 
108, 115, 131-159, 163, 166, 171, 
186, 196, 202, 208, 209, 223, 296, 
298, 318, 329, 334, 335, 374, 402, 
409, 455, 466; physical, 137-140; 
vocational, 141, 142; boards of, 
40, 44, 146, 148, 187, 481; state 
commissioner of, 146, 151; depart- 
ment of, 1 51-153; U. S. Bureau of, 
155, 157, 191; U. S. Department 
of, 156 

Efficiency, 131, 138, 171, 208, 253, 

303, 331, 456, 485, 501, 542 
Egyptians, 243 

Election, 469, 515; districts, 502 
Elections, 442, 446, 483, 484 
Electors, 527 
Electric power, 267 
Elevated railways, 262, 263, 265, 267 
Ellis Island, 77 

Emergency Fleet Corporation, 278 
Eminent domain, 395, 396 
Employees, 34, 86, 164, 171, 200, 408, 

409, 484, 532 
Employers, 34, 79, 86, 164, 200, 325, 

327, 330, 333i^ 408, 409 
Employers' liability laws, 408 
Employment agencies, 347, 403, 498; 

of children, 133; service, 365, 366 
England, 47, 90, 95, 96, 102, 124, 131, 

225, 392, 421, 450, 461, 473, 477, 

523, 535,542 
Entomologists, 347 
Epidemic, 186 
Equality, 22, 196, 297, 345 
Equalization boards, 426 
Equity, 514 
Estimate, 423, 510, 545; board of, 

148, 489 
Etiquette, 46 



572 



INDEX 



Europe, 95, 99, in, 113 

Exchange, rates of, 352 

Excise tax, 429, 432 

Executive branch, 494-500, 509, 523, 

526-537, 543; liead, 517 
Explorers, 389 
Extravagance, 311 

Factory inspectors, 347; system, 329 
Factories, 127 

Families, 3, 89, 104, 115, 323 
Family, i, 2, 6, 21, 54, 107, 108, in, 

124-129, 145, 401 {see Home) 
Farewell Address, Washington's, 94, 

441 
Farmer, 12, 14, 82, 86, 208 
Farm Loan Act, 356 
Federal Aid Road Act, 272 
Federal Farm Loan Act, 356; Farm 

Loan Banks, 356; Farm Loan 

Board, 356 
Federal Reserve Banks, 355; Board, 

355; districts, 355 
Federalist Party, 525 
Fees, 465, 466 
Finance committee, 454; department, 

510 

Fines, 416, 511, 512 

Fire chief, 233; commissioners, 232; 
company, 29; department, 41, 109, 
226, 232, 235, 236, 347; insurance, 
228; loss from, 117, 123, 225-233; 
marshal, 470; prevention, 225- 
233; protection, 29, 41, 42, 469, 

First aid, 163, 341 

Fisheries, bureau of, 363 

Fitchburg, Mass., 198 

Flag, 79, 81 

Flies, 183, 184, 191 

Floods, 228, 233-235, 239, 381 

Florida, 234 

Food, 2, 82, 90, 168, 170, 178-180; 
administration, 89, 90, 311; admin- 
istrator, 90; and drugs act, 191 



Foreign population, 318, 454 
Foreigners, 78, 81, 116, 245, 439 
Forest reserves, 383; service, 347, 

383, 384 
Forester, 383 

Forestry departments, 385 
Forests, 272, 383-385 
Fountains, 218 

France, 89, 90, 102, in, 225, 311 
Franchises, 267, 397, 398, 399 
Franklin, Benjamin, 42, 43, 171, 251, 

421, 423, 517 
Fraud, 374, 393, 406 
Freedom, 44, 45, 48, 58, 80, 81, 88, 

96, 104, 297, 303, 345, 347,435; 

of the press, 247-249; of religion, 

80, 391; of speech, 247-249 
Freight, 269 
Fuel, 82, 89, 382, 387 

Galveston, Texas, 485, 486 

Gambling, 203 

Games, 3 

Garbage, 44, 168, 182, 183, 184 

Garfield, President, 533 

Geneva, Switzerland, 98 

Geological Survey, 225, 387 

Geologists, state, 347 

Georgia, 285 

German population, 78, 96, 97 

Germany, 77, 90, 95, 96, 102, 225, 

239, 375, 382, 408, 435 

Gettysburg Address, Lincoln's, oppo- 
site frontispiece 

Girl Scouts, 36, 206; Pioneers, 206 

Golden Rule, 221 

Government, 40-53. 435-449) city, 
473-492; national, 517-549; state, 
493-516; county, 461-468; towTi- 
ships, 450-460; village, borough, 
and town, 469-471; Revolutionary, 
517; English, 535-537, 542; world, 
100-105. (The activities, and to 
some extent the organization, of 
local, state, and national govern- 



INDEX 



573 



ment are treated in each chapter 
in relation to the topic under dis- 
cussion.) 

Governor, 146, 151, 152, 235, 239, 
480, 495-500, 508, 510, 515; 
colonial, 473, 477 

Graft, 416, 422 

Grafter, 294 

Great Britain, 89, 239, 382 

Greeks, 78 

Guatemala, 96 

Hague, The, loi; tribunal, loi 

Hamilton, Alexander, 353, 525 

Happiness, 9, 57, 80, 196, 209, 291, 
294 

Harding, President, 522, 528, 530 

Havana, Cuba, 256 

Hawaii, 394 

Health, 2, 12, 16, 42, 57, 108, 109, 
115, 117, 118, 128, 137-140, 160- 
19s, 197, 223, 268, 303, 334, 387, 
403, 409, 415, 421, 456, 467, 468, 
476, 483; board of, 185, 187, 188, 
190, 451, 470, 481; commissioner 
of, 188-190; department of, 109, 
171, 177, 179, 180, 185, 186, 187, 
188, 190, 235, 403; laws, 498; 
officers, 169, 188, 189, 405, 462 

Hearings, 507 

Hebrew population, 78 

Hieroglyphics, 243 

High schools, 136, 137, 138 

Highway departments, 270, 271, 272, 

273 
Highways, 44, 257-281; state, 270 
Holland, loi, 225 
Home, the, 3, 28, 47, 84, 107-130, 

162, 178, 185, 284, 314, 329 
Home rule, 468, 479, 480, 482, 483, 

485 
Homes, 95, 121, 211, 213 
Homestead Act, 113, 371, 378, 385 
Homesteaders, 372, 378 
Hookworm disease, 184 



Hoover, Herbert, 90 

Hospitals, 168, 185, 190, 405, 406, 

413, 414 
Housing, 84, 115-120, 121, 122, 127, 

168, 169, 170, 171, 334, 456 
Houston, Tex., 17, 18 
Hudson River tubes, 264 
Humanity, 93, 96 
Hyde Park, Mass., 453 

Idaho, 377 

Ideals, 75, 80, 91, 97, 105, 129 

Idleness, 202 

Illinois, 66, 269, 447, 468, 497, 500, 

509, 510 
Illiteracy, 245, 408, 439 
Illiterates, 78, 244, 245 
Ill-mannered, 235 
Immigrants, 77, 169, 186, 523 
Immigration, 366; Bureau of, 186, 

366, 531 
Impeachment, 526 
Implied powers, 525, 529 
Inauguration, 522 
Income, 201, 202, 309, 327, 338; tax, 

424, 430, 431 
Incorporation, 469 
Increment, unearned, 16 
Independence, 96; Declaration of, 9, 

10, 22, 50, 51, 96; War of, 8r, 517 
Indian Affairs, Bureau of, 156 
Indiana, 146, 147, 286, 497 
Indianapolis, 261 
Indians, 78, 156, 243, 349, 391, 392, 

523 

Indictment, 513 

Indoor relief, 406 

Industrial centers, 116, 169; confer- 
ence, 81, loi; life, 245; organiza- 
tion, 30, 31, 200; schools, 405; 
system, 128, 323-344 

Industries, 30; home, 359; infant, 359 

Industry, 78, 79, 133, 141, 173, 200, 

293, 323-344, 381, 388 
Inequality, 132, 133, 327 



574 



INDEX 



Inheritance tax, 424 

Initiative, 345, 437, 438, 447, 456, 
486,508 

Injustice, 327 

Insular affairs, Bureau of, 530; terri- 
tories, 73 

Insurance, 319, 320, 335, 347; com- 
missioners, 347; life, 320; social, 
129, 408, 409; war risk, 354, 365 

Interdependence, 12-25, 65, 66, 69, 
77, 82, 83, 84, 93, 95, 108, 141, 157, 
177, 189, 226, 289, 476 

Interior, Department of the, 155, 
156, 166, 191, 371, 378, 387, 531; 
Secretary of the, 9, 531 

Internal improvements, 267, 525 

International government, 100-105 

Interstate Commerce Commission, 
274, 361 

Inventions, 4, 84 

Investing, 303 

Investment, 314, 372 

Invisible government, 506 

Ireland, 90 

Irrigation, 378, 381 

Italians, 78 

Italy, 90, 102, 225 

Jackson, President, 532 

Jail, 412, 413, 417, 462 

Japan, 102 

Jeflferson, Thomas, 51, 153, 371, 466, 

525 
Jews, 126 

Judges, 394, 514, 515 
Judgments, hasty, 22 
Judicial branch, 494, 511-515; dis- 
tricts, 467 
Junior Health departments, 192 
Junior Red Cross, 36, 99, 113, 192 
Jury,57,4i6,si3, 514; grand, 512,513 
Justice, 22, 96, 170, 297, 346, 415, 
416, 417, 423, 440, 494, 513, 515, 
523; chief, 526, 548; department 
of, 361, 531 



Justices of the peace, 126, 451, 460, 

470,^ 512 
Juvenile court, 417, 418, 514 

Kansas, 372, 377 

Kentucky, 70, 268 

King, 131, 477, 49C, 517, 523, 535 

Knights of Colmnbus, 205 

Knowledge, 3, 4, 22 

Knoxboro, N. Y., 63 

Labor, 97, 327-343, 368, 443; adjust- 
ment boards, 80; American Fed- 
eration of, 335; boards, 202, 347; 
child, 128; convict, 271; depart- 
ment of, 157, 191, 362, 364-366, 
408, 531; disputes, 347; division of, 
28; Review, 364; secretary of, 531; ^ 
skilled and unskilled, 201; unions, 
202 

Laboratories, 178, 180, 190 

Land, 285, 368-390; commissioner, 
372; office, 371, 372, 374, 387; 
ownership of, 91, 392 

Lands, public, 113, 155, 269, 370-378, 
460 

Lane, Franklin K., 9, 13, 23, 76, 245, 
368 

Language, 78, 86, 97, 131, 243-245, 

454 

Law, 45, 47, 57, 132, 198, 391; civil, 
503, 511; common, 346; criminal, 
511; due process of, 275, 393, 394, 
514; fundamental, 436; statutory, 
346 

Laws, 46, 48, 49, 50, 59, 117, 133, 148, 
171, 173, 180, 185, 190, 202, 225, 
229, 230, 275, 277, 334, 361, 373, 
422, 436, 438, 517 

Leaders, 131, 150, 248 

Leadership, 28, 29, 36, 38, 40, 131, 
136, 149, 182, 197, 213, 330, 335, 
343, 406, 443, 444, 454, 456, 457, 
482, 484, 500, 501, 534, 535, 536, 
537, 541, 542, 544, 546 



INDEX 



575 



League to Enforce Peace, 99 
League of Nations, 102-105, 248 
Legislation, 164, 483, 484, 504, 505, 

539-541 

Legislative branch, 494, 501-508, 509 

Legislative reference bureau, 505 

Legislatures, 151, 444, 447, 468, 474, 
477, 479, 480, 481, 482, 484, 485, 
494, 495, 496, 49^ 498, 501-508, 
510, 515, 523, 527, 538, 539 

Leisure, 200, 202, 207, 208 

L'Enfant, Major, 214 

Leominster, Mass., 454 

Levees, 233, 382 

Lewis and Clark, 369 

Libel, 249 

Liberties, 521, 524 

Liberty, 9, 22, 104, 221; bonds, 318 

Library of Congress, 219 

Licenses, 126, 424, 425 

Lieutenant Governor, 497, 506 

Life, 2, 9, 16 

Light, 168, 267 

Lighting system, 4, 210, 216, 237, 

455 

Lincoln Memorial, frontispiece 

Lincoln's Gettysburg Address, oppo- 
site frontispiece 

Living, earning a, 6, 56, 282-300 323; 
cost of, 22, 201, 202, 275, 326, 327, 
338, Z1^ 

Lobby, 507 

Lockout, 337 

Lock-up, 412 

Lodging houses, 403 

London, 225, 260 

Los Angeles, 177, 231 

Louisiana, 225, 461 

Lowden, Governor, 497 

Lunches, school, 139, 141 

Lyme, Conn., 222 

Lynching, 415 

Machinery, 127, 329, 368 
Macon, Ga., 198 



Madison, Wis., 68, 152 

Magistrates, 416 

Mail, 246, 247, 272 

Maine, 225, 438 

Majority, 440, 441, 442, 445, 447, 

503, 506 
Management, 276, 308, 309, 2>ZZ, Z2^, 

340, 444 
Manager, city, 475 
Manhattan, 260 
Manners, 46, 47, 48, 104 
Market centers, 275; curb, 332 
Markets, 66, 82, 115, 180 
Marriage, 125, 126 
Maryland, 121, 270, 438 
Massachusetts, 20, 133, 270, 436, 457, 

480, 501, 515 
Mayor, 148, 187, 232, 470, 473, 474, 

484, 485, 489 
Medical inspection, 138, 185 
Members, 2, 54-56, 58, 78 
Membership, 54-56, 93, 197 
Merchant marine, ^■^^ 84, 156, 278, 

279 
Merchant of Venice, 97 
Merit system, 533 
Messages, governor's, 496; mayor's, 

484; President's, 534 
Metric system, 358 
Michigan, 152, 286, 438, 470, 487 
Midvale Steel Company, 341. 
MiHtia, 238, 239, 495 
Milk, 178, 179; stations, 179 . 
Mill, John Stuart, 542 
Mineral resources, 385-387 
Mines, 166; Bureau of, 166, 191, 387 
Mining, 387 

Minnesota, 285, 381, 480, 496 
Minority, 440, 441, 442, 446, 447 
Mints, 349; director of, 349 
Misdemeanors, 408 
Mississippi River, 233; commission, 

233 
Missouri, 469, 479, 480 
Mob, 26 



576 



INDEX 



Money, 20, 283, 284, 298, 305, 348, 
349-353, 356, 523; orders, 252; 
paper, 349, 350 

Monopolies, 361 

Monopoly, 331 

Monroe Doctrine, 94; President, 94, 
102 

Montana, 225, 285, 377 

ISIortgage, 305, 394 

Mosquitoes, 184 

Motor truck, 253, 260, 265, 271 

ISIoving pictures, 202, 203 

Music, 5, 200, 206, 218 

NashviUe, Term., 99 

National community, our, 75-92; 
defense act, 239; forests, 383-385; 
government, 517-549; guard, 238, 
239; municipal league, 486; safety 
council, 166 

Nationality, loi, 104 

Natural resources, 84, 368-390 

Naturalization, 58-60, 439, 523; 
bureau of, 366, 531 

Navigation, 95; bureau of, 363 

Navy, 155, 156, 239, 241; Depart- 
ment of, 531; secretary of the, 531 

Nebraska, 372, 377 

Njegroes, 78 

Nevada, 377 

Newark, N. J., 64 

New England, 14, 40, 49, 95, 145, 
146, 221, 222, 269, 285, 381, 436, 
439, 450j 451, 456, 463, 466, 467, 
502 

New Hampshire, 515 

New Haven, Conn., 176 

New Jersey, 270, 271 

New Mexico, 377 

New Orleans, 234, 349 

Newsboys, 220 

Newspapers, 3, 78, 179, 246-249, 254, 
279 

Newton, Mass., 198 

New York City, 16, 64, 71, 78, 137, 



138, 148, 177, 179, 181, 207, 216, 
225, 231, 235, 251, 253, 257, 260, 
261, 262, 263, 306, 307, 311, 332, 
403, 424, 478, 489; State, 133, 153, 
190, 270, 285, 381, 461, 480, 481 
Niagara Falls, 379 
Noises, 5, 123, 219, 220 
North Carolina, 225, 465, 496 
North Dakota, 2*25, 285, 377 
Northwest Territory, 154 
Nurses, 185; pubHc health, 168, 186, 
188; school, 138 

Occupations, 6, 125, 127, 128, 173, 

283, 288, 293, 329, 415 
Office seeking, 465 
Officials, public, 294 
Ohio, 271, 286, 438, 479; River, 233 
Oklahoma, 377 
Open-air schools, 139 
Opportunity, 7, 9, 196, 258, 297, 303, 

345; land of, 345, 346 
Ordinance of 1787, 154 
Ordinances, 164, 171, 187, 470, 476, 

484 
Oregon, 377, 515; University of, 13, 

369 
Organization, 28, 29, 30, 31, 33, 87, 

88, 93, 100, 102, 232, 441, 456-460 
Organizations, 34, 35, 87, 88, 166, 

179, 192; labor, 335; voluntary, 

406, 407 
Orphans, 405 
Outdoor relief, 406 
Overseer of the poor, 402 
Ownership, communal, 391, 392; 

government, 276, 277; home, 113, 

114, 115; individual, 391, 392 

Panama, 253; canal, 225; canal zone, 

191, 251 ^ ^ 

Pan-American Building, 100; Union, 

99 
Panic, 354 
Parcel post, 252 



INDEX 



577 



Pardon, 495 

Pardons, board of, 495 

Paris, 260 

Parish, 461 

Parks, 108, 171, 204, 205, 215, 216, 
217, 218, 238, 455 

Parkways, 218 

Parliament, 535, 542 

Parliamentary law, 540 

Parole, 418 

Parties, political, 103, 440, 441-443 

Partisan influences, 503, 506, 515 

Partners, 328 

Partnership, 317 

Party, political, 464, 484, 524, 525, 
527, 532, 535, 537, 542; organiza- 
tion, 442, 443; spirit, 441, 524; 
system, 442 

Patent medicines, 191 

Patents, 348, 523 

Paternalism, 345 

Patriotism, 56, 75, 104, 105, 298, 302 

Pauperism, 406 

Pavements, 42, 171, 216, 265, 266, 
268, 421, 422 

Peace, 91, 96, 102; conference, 100 
102, 248; congresses, 99; organiza- 
tions, 99; world, 96 

Penitentiaries, 414, 415, 498 

Penn, William, 214 

Pennsylvania, 237, 461, 479, 497, 499 

Pensions, 335, 409; mothers', 129 

Petition, 391, 438, 446 

Philadelphia, 42, 44, 214, 251, 253, 

349, 518, 519 
Philippines, 191, 251, 394, 530 
Physical defects, 137-140, 160, 161, 

168, 288, 401 
Pickets, 337 

Pioneer, 12, 14, 30, 107, 145, 285 
Pittsburgh, 78, 118, 257 
Plan, city, 213-216 
Planning, city, 121, 171, 261; town, 

455, 456 
Play, 50, 108, 123, 139, 197-199 



Playground commission, 198; and 
Recreation Association, 206 

Playgrounds, ^6, 108, 171, 197, 198, 
199, 204, 248, 455 

Pleasure, 2, 3 

Plutocracy, 443 

Plymouth Rock, 13 

Poland, 112 

Poles, 216 

Police, 26, 41, 164, 235-237, 347, 415, 
416, 483; chief of, 235; commis- 
sioner, 235, 237; courts, 514; 
department of, 233, 235, 236, 417; 
marshal, 470; power, 396, 397; 
protection, 469; state, 236, 237 

Policeman, 44, 45, 46, 47 

Policy, insurance, 228 

Political campaign, 359; corruption, 
416; parties (see Parties and Party) 

Politicians, 443, 484, 487 

Pontics, 465, 483, 485 

Polls, 436, 445 

Poll tax, 424 

Poor, the, 460, 461; overseer of, 402, 
451; relief, 403 

Population, 73, 93, 95, no, 116, 174; 
racial elements in, 78, 79, 86 

Portland, Ore., 234 

Porto Rico, 191, 530 

Postage, 251 

Postal savings system, 252, 317; 
service, 251-253, 254, 348 

Postmaster General, 251, 531 

Post ofhce, 251-253, 269, 317, 523; 
department, 251-253, 254, 531 

Post roads, 251, 253, 269, 523, 525 

Poverty, 323, 327, 403, 407, 411 

Preamble of the Constitution, 50, 52, 

343, 436, 519 
Premium, insurance, 228, 320 
President of the United States 52, 

89, 90, 96, 102, 239, 256, 276, 291, 

355, 383, 446, 489, 497, 519, 524, 
526, 527, 529, 530, 531, 532, 533, 

534, 535, 544, 545, 54§ 



578 



INDEX 



Press, free, So, 247 

Prices, 326, 327 

Primaries, 446 

Prime minister, 95, 536, 542 

Printing, 131, 246; bureau of, 350, 

351 
Prisons, 411, 413, 417 
Probation, 417; officer, 418 
Profit, 289, 294, 330; excess, 432; 

sharing, 340 
Profiteering, 327 
Prohibition, 203, 248, 408, 430 
Propaganda, 248, 249, 330 
Property, 6, 16, 29, 117, 275, 327, 

421; common, 267; individual 

ownership, 391, 392; personal, 392, 

424; protection of, 115, 225-243; 

public, 238; qualifications, 439; 

rights, 267, 338, 346, 347, 391-400; 

tax, 424 
Proportional representation, 447 
Prosecutor, 462 
Protection of property, 225-242 {see 

Fire, Police, Property) 
Public buildings {see Buildings) 
Public health service, 191 
Publicity, 248 
Public lands {see Lands) 
Public opinion, 132, 247, 248, 335, 

412, 546 
Public roads, office of, 271, 272 
Public safety, department of, 233; 

service corporations, 267; utilities, 

267, 397, 398; commissions, 274, 

399, 481 
Public works, department of, 265 
Punishment, 411, 413, 415, 416, 511 
Purposes, common, i-io, 26, 77, 79, 
93, 97; national, 9, 80, 84, 86, 91, 
96, 196, 295 342 343; world, 295 

Quarantine, 180, 186, 192 

Racial elements of population, 78, 86 
Radio-communication, 254 



Railroad administration, 254, 276; 

commissions, 274, 347 
Railroads, 22, 82, 88, 172, 216, 235, 

317, 2>n, 547; director general of, 

276 
Railways, 253, 257, 263, 269, 273-277 
Randolph County, Ind., 146, 147, 319 
Rangers, Texas, 237 
Rate, tax, 425, 427 
Rates, insurance, 228; transporta- 
, tion, 275 
Ratification, 493 
Rats, 183, 184 
Raw materials, 82 
Real estate, 424 
Recall, 447, 475, 486, 515, 537 
Reclamation, 377, 378; Act, 377; 

service, 378 
Recorder of deeds, 393 
Recreation, 108, 128, 171, 196-208, 

223, 268, 334, 403, 409; centers, 204 
Red Cross, American, 98, 99, 163, 

172, 301; Junior, 36, 99, 113, 192; 

Societies, League of, 98 
Referendum, 437, 438, 447, 486, 508 
Reformatories, 413, 498 
Register of deeds, 393 
Rehabilitation, 402, 405, 411, 417 
Relief, indoor, 406; outdoor, 406; 

poor, 403, 405 
Religion, 221-223; freedom of, 58, 391 
Religions, 5 

Religious differences, 97, 98; influ- 
ences, 125; qualifications, 439; 

wants, 5, 196, 221-223 
Rent, 115 

Representation, 448, 502 
Representatives, 436, 438, 441, 445, 

483, 523; House of, 501, 526, 533, 

535> 537, 538, 539, 545 
Republican government, 467, 494; 

party, 103 
Reservations, Indian, 156 
Resources, natural, 84, 368-390 
Responsibility, 500 



INDEX 



579 



Responsiveness, 501 

Revenue, 359, 538 

Revolution, 96, 370, 474, 477, 517, 
521, 522 

Rhode Island, 515 

Rights, 9, 22, 45, 49, 57, 58, 80, 81, 
96, 197, 267, 303, 345, 346, 347, 
415, 513; bill of, 521; civil, 58, 59; 
declaration of, 494; political, 58, 
59, 60; property, 235, 391-400 

Road Act, Federal Aid, 272 

Roads, 70, 251, 253, 257, 268-273, 
374, 421, 433, 455, 460, 461, 467, 

525 
Rome, 78, 97 
Roosevelt, President, 442 
Roosevelt dam, 381 
Root, Ehhu, 443 
Rubbish, 183 
Rules, 46, 47, 49, 436, 506, 508, 537, 

539, 540; of the game, 46, 197 
Rural ma,il, 251-253 
Russell Sage Foundation, 168, 188 
Russia, 323, 339, 448 

Sacramento Valley, 233 

Safety, 108, 118, 164, 237, 267, 268, 

334, 387; devices, 164, 333, 334, 

336, 408; first, 166, 408 
St. Louis, 163 
Saloon, 203 

Salt Lake City, 135, i37 
Salt River, 378 
Salute, 52 

San Francisco, 166, 234, 349 
Sanitariums, 405 

Sanitary code, 190; district, 177, 190 
Sanitation, 174, 191 
Saving, 303, 310, 368 
Savings, 252, 302, 309, -330, 333; 

stamps, 433 
School, I, 2, 3, 6, 32, 35, 36, 47, 54, 

108, 109, 129, 161, 170; army, 154; 

attendance, 132-134, 135, 136; 

board, 198; buildings, 204, 218; 



committee, 40; committeemen, 
451; consolidation, 146, 147; citi- 
zenship league, 99; district, 145, 
146; elementary, 136; garden 
army, 36, 227, 376; high, 132, 135; 
system, 476 

Schoolhouse, 12, 30, 40, 132, 145 

Schools, 22, 83, 84, 109, IIS, 131-159, 
161, 163, 170, 185, 186, 198, 209, 
218, 248, 297, 347, 405, 407, 412, 
414, 415, 418, 421, 422, 462, 467; 
high, 132, 136; normal, 132, 153, 
154; private, 132 

Scientists, 82 

Scouts, boy, 36; girl, 36 

Selective draft, 88, 423 

Selectmen, 450, 451 

Self-determination, 297, 303 

Self-government, 75, 476, 481, 493> 

494 
Senate, 102, 501, 502, 506, 526, 527, 

537, 538, 539, 548 

Senators, 519, 538 

Separation of powers, 494, 523 

Serbs, 78 

Service, 15, 19, 20, 35, 36, 56, 57, 58, 
98, 99, 105, 200, 213, 221, 275, 286, 
287, 293, 294, 297, 298, 303, 305, 
317, 330, 399, 415, 421, 435, 455, 
463, 473, 475, 481, 483, 487, 499, 
501, 524, 532, 546; army, 291; 
organization, 232, 347, 366, 484, 
500, 529, 532; training schools for, 

407 
Sewage, 108, 168, 177, 178, 181, 182, 

184 
Sewers, 44, 108, 181, 182, 268, 455, 

469 
Sheriff, 235, 422, 462 
Sherman Act, 275, 361 
Shipping board, 84, 156, 278 
Ships, 82, 84, 278, 279 
Shop, closed, 336; open, 336 
Shylock, 97 
Siam, 96 



58o 



INDEX 



Sickness, i6o, 170 

Signals, 46 

Signs, 45, 210, 243, 245 

Slander, 249 

Slavery, 81 

Smith-Hughes Act, 142 

Smith-Lever Act, 376 

Smoke, 216, 387 

Smuggler, 428 

Social life, 108, 223; settlements, 295; 

wants, 196-208; workers, 407 
Socialism, 339 

Soil, 375, 376, 386 

Soldiers, 26, 402 

South, the, 145, 286 

South America, 95, 99, 253 

South Dakota, 225, 285, 377 

Sovereignty, loi 

Soviet, 448 

Speaker, 506, 507, 539, 540 

Specialists, 155, 297 

Speciahzation, 298 

Speculators, 385 

Speech, free, 58, 80, 391 

Spending, 303, 305 

Spoils system, 532, 533 

Sports, 2, 3, 29, 46 

Springfield, 111., 175 

Stamps, postage, 251, 350; postal 
savings, 317; thrift, 307, 318; 
savings, 318, 433 

Standards, 356; Bureau of, 357, 358, 
359, 360, 362, 363, 531 

State communities, 72, 73; depart- 
ment of, 529; government, 493- 
516; secretary of, 347 

States Relations Service, 313 

Statues, 218 

Statutes, 346 

Steam, 95; engine, 329 

Steamships, 253, 269 

Stock, capital, 331 

Stockholders, 148, 149, 333, 336 

Streams, 216 

Street, 162, 164, 215, 39^; QMS; 21, 



220, 260; cleaning, 42-44, 171, 183, 
216, 423; commissioner, 470; rail- 
ways, 35, 268, 307; supervisors, 
422 

Streets, 2, 22, 45, 47, 115, 171, 172, 
182, 198, 211, 216, 217, 237, 248, 
257-268, 455, 469 

Strikes, 21, 79, 330, 337, 342, 364 

Suburbs, 64 

Subways, 263, 265, 267 

Suffrage, 437, 438, 439, 483 

Superintendent of schools, 146, 148, 
149, 151, 152, 188, 422, 462 

Supervisors, board of, 461, 464, 468 

Supreme court (see Courts) 

Surroundings, attractive, 196, 208- 
220 

Survey, 370, 371, 372, 386, 387 

Surveyor, 462 

Switzerland, 98, 225 

Taft, President, 442, 544 

Tariff, 359 

Tax, 359, 391; dodger, 427; list, 427, 
428; payer, 427, 439 

Taxation, 221, 395, 421-434, 489 

Taxes, 40, 57, 148, 395, 451, 456, 461, 
468, 470, 517 

Team work, i, 4, 26, 36, 40, 46, 52, 
56, 75, 86, 88, 89, 91, 93, 100, 119, 
129, 131, 192, 197, 232, 243, 244, 
375, 407, 435, 441, 442, 443, 447, 
463, 475, 517, 524, 546; in indus- 
try, 323-344; in taxation, 421-434 

Telegraph, 88, 216, 254, 267 

Telephone, 19, 20, 21, 88, 216, 255, 
267; wireless, 255 

Tenancy, 115 

Tenants, 114 

Tenement house departments, 117 

Tenements, 116, 118, 123, 127, 168, 
169, 171, 207, 216 

Tennessee, 69, 269 

Territories, 73 

Territory, Northwest, 154, 155 



INDEX 



581 



Texas, 4, 17, 69, no, 237, 269, 285, 

486, 487 
Textbooks, 152, 153, 154 
Theaters, 170, 171, 204, 205 
Thief, 391 
Thieves, 235 
Thrift, 202, 207, 228, 301-322, 323, 

338, 401, 409; clubs, 36 
Tolerance, 222 
Tolls, 269 

Torrens system, 394 
Toronto, 379 

Town, 145; incorporated, 469, 470, 
471; meeting, 49, 221, 436, 439, 
450-454, 458, 459, 466; New- 
England, 450-460 
Towns, 40, 211, 436, 493, 502 
Township, 68, 104, 145, 146; govern- 
ment, 450-460 
Townships, 235, 403, 436, 460, 461, 
463, 466, 467, 468, 469, 473, 476, 
512 
Trade areas, 67, 69; centers, 67, 68; 

commissioners, 363 
Trading centers, 469 
Trafi&c, 44, 45, 46, 164, 235, 258, 260, 

265, 267, 275 
Transportation, 20, 30, 35, 82, 116, 
171, 180, 253, 257-281, 373, 397, 
476 
Treasurer, state, 497; town, 451, 460, 

462, 470 
Treasury, Department of the, 191, 
301, 318, 348, 349, 352, 359, 530; 
secretary of the, 530, 545 
Treaties, 100, 538, 548 
Treaty, 524; of peace, 102 
Trenton, N. J., 302 
Trial, 58, 512, 513; fair, 415, 416 
Trustees, township, 460 
Trusts, 361 
Tuberculosis, 168, 170, 171, 178, 184; 

association, 192 
Turnpikes, 269 
Typhoid, 174, 178, 184 



Unemployed, 292, 293 

Unemployment, 327, 403 

Union label, 337 

Unions, labor, 202; trade, 335 

Universities, 132, 154, 407 

University of Virginia, 51, 153; of 

Wisconsin, 313 
Utah, 377 
Utilities, public, 397, 398 

Vagrancy, 291 

Vagrants, 408 

Vandalism, 238 

Vandals, 235, 238, 391 

Ventilation, 12, 138, 168, 169, 170, 

173 
Versailles, 102 

Veto, 484, 496, 497, 508, 524 
Vice, 117, 128, 236, 323 
Vice President, 446, 527, 530, 539 
Vienna, 225 

Vigilance committees, 415 
Village, 63, 211, 450, 469, 470, 493 
Virginia, 131, 189, 192, 269, 271, 466, 

487; university of, 51, 153 
Vocation, 208, 283, 284, 295, 297, 

298, 305, 323 

Vocational education, 141, 142; Fed- 
eral Board for, 142, 156, 157 

Voters, 441 

Wage earners, 79, 160, 303, 323, 327, 
334, 336,33 7, 364, 366; living, 128, 
303; minimum, 202, 336 

Wages, 88, 160, 201, 202, 289, 294, 

305, 327, 329, 333, 334, 335, 338, 
408; actual, 334; money, 334; scale 

of, 33^ 
Wappinger Falls, N. Y., 341 
War, the Civil, 353, 438; the Great, 

I, 9, 21, 34, 36, 50, 77, 78, 79, 80, 
82, 83, 85, 86, 88, 89, 93, 95, 96, 
102, III, 116, 131, 137, 141, 239, 
241, 254, 291, 295, 301, 432, 433; 
Revolutionary, 50, 81, 96, 368, 392; 



582 



INDEX 



of Independence, 517; Depart- 
ment, 191, 251, 530, 543; powers, 
276; secretary of, 530 

Wards, 466, 483 

Warrant, town, 450-452 

Washington, D. C, 23, 86, 88, 95, 
97, 121, 122, 144, 148, 165, 184, 
189, 211, 214, 215, 216, 217, 219, 
231, 234, 253, 261, 387, 489, 536; 
monument, 23; state, 377 

Washington, President, 15, 94, 95, 
102, 441, 443, 524, 529 

Wastage, human, 402 

Wastefulness, 226, 231, 311, 375, 384, 
385, 386, 387, 407, 422, 465, 509 

Water power, 380, 382, 384, 387, 388; 
resources, 379-382; supply, 22, 
108, 109, 168, 174-177, 182, 183, 
191, 230-232, 469; transportation, 
277, 279; works, 174, 455 

Wealth, 6, 282, 283, 285, 288, 289, 
290, 327, 368, 385, 443 

Weather Bureau, 233-235 

Weights and measures, 348, 356-358, 
523; inspector of, 358 

Welfare boards, 405; commissioner of 
public, 403; department of, 403, 
407, 408 

Wells, 174, 175 

West, the, 20, 113, 145, 438 

West Indies, 253 



West Point, 156, 240 

West Virginia, 225, 382, 488 

Wheehng, W. Va., 488 

White House, the, 532 

Wichita Falls, Tex., 4, 69, no 

Wilson, President, 9, 10, 24, 86, 91, 

442, 535 
Wires, 216, 267 
Wisconsin, 67, 68, 69, 152, 271, 481; 

University of, 313 
Women, occupations of, 125 
Woolworth building, 306, 307 
Work, 196, 199, 295, 302; houses, 408, 

413 
Working day, 200 
World, community, 62, 93-105; 

government, 160-105; the old, 93; 

Peace Foundation, 99 
Wyoming, 377 

Yellowstone, 383 

Yonkers, N. Y., 64 

Young America, 36 

Young Men's Christian Association, 
205 

Young Men's Hebrew Association, 205 

Young Women's Christian Associa- 
tion, 166, 205 

Yuma, 378 

Zoning system, 122, 123, 218 



